


This Means War

by MoiraBaudelaire



Series: Dead by Daylight Fanfics [2]
Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Accidental Death, Accidental Relationship, Accidental Voyeurism, Action/Adventure, Arson, Blood, Blow Jobs, Breaking and Entering, Character Death, Cute, Drug Use, Fanfiction, Graffiti, Graphic Description, Graphic Description of Corpses, Groping, Inspired by Dead by Daylight (Video Game), Major Character Injury, Mixtape, Multi, Murder, Music, Rough Sex, Sad, Slow Build, Theft, Threesome - F/F/M, Underage Drinking, Underage Sex, Underage Smoking, Vaginal Fingering, Vandalism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:13:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26854267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoiraBaudelaire/pseuds/MoiraBaudelaire
Summary: Frank Morrison would like to think he has the small town of Ormond in his grasp, bending its residents to his every whim and wish. Him and his Legion terrorize the town with their petty crimes on a weekend basis.Nea hated moving from her home of Hjo, Sweden. She felt as if she had to uproot her life and leave her gang behind, which meant leaving a part of herself behind. This new small town in Canada was a less than optimal place to start over for her until she meets a close knit group of friends.Their less than glamorous crimes interest her and she sees a potential to start something great, but the obvious Alpha dog of the pack guards them closely, keeping them in his sights at all costs whenever she's around. One way or another, Nea will find her way into this legion of tough talking feral teens.
Relationships: Frank Morrison/Nea Karlsson
Series: Dead by Daylight Fanfics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957669
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	1. Smiley-Face Pin

Frank hadn’t slept well the night before, he never slept well when he was in his own room, Clive really hadn’t invested in the best furniture for him, preferring to use the Family Services cheques he received for booze and drinks at the local bar. He definitely preferred Julie’s carpeted floor over that old, torn up twin mattress that Frank swore up and down his foster father had found in a dumpster then tossed in the room night before he had to pick Frank up from the adoption center in Calgary. Soon though, Frank would be 19 then he and his Legion could dip from this stale frozen drag of a town. Speaking of the bastard, he was blaring the news on that old box television, kicked back in his cigarette-hole burnt recliner with a bottle of vodka in his hand as Frank came down the stairs to look for some sustenance, attempting and failing not to make a face at the smell of different alcohols mixing with cigarette ash that met his nose. He was browsing in the fridge for his last can of coke when he heard the woman reporter say something about vandalism at the local police station. He turned, a mild curiosity peaked his interest as he pulled up on the tab to hear that lovely sound of the can opening, eyes finding the TV while downing the sugary carbonation.

“-That’s right Jim, the small town of Ormond’s police station was vandalized in the dark hours of the night, graffiti in large bold letters scrawled across the west outer wall-” The reporter spoke into her microphone as if she were describing a murder scene. Frank almost rolled his eyes, smiling to himself and thinking maybe one of his friends got crazy last night but he stopped when he realized that tag wasn’t one of theirs. He narrowed his eyes to try and make out what the tag said before the screen changed to something else. Yeah, that was not the work of one of his friends. Joey preferred murals of strange and disturbing images over plain letters.

“Son of a bitch,” he breathed, bounding up the creaky stairs with curses from Clive yelling at him to stop being loud, except worded a little less politely. Frank ignored him, shutting his door so he could pull on his dark red pants, converse and big leather jacket over his black hoodie, stuffing his mask into a bag with a few of his own unused cans of paint and his mixtape before heading down stairs to call Joey.

He dropped the bag by his feet as he dialed the number to Joey’s house. The phone rang a few times before his mom answered. “Clark Residence,”

“Hello Mrs. Clark, it’s Frank, is Joey there?” Frank cooed like a sweet innocent young man.

“Oh, hello Frank I don’t believe Joey is up yet, it’s a Sunday. You’re up pretty early though.” She said. He listened to her smile through the receiver. Frank found it absolutely fucking hilarious how he could put anyone under his thumb with a few honeyed words and Joey’s parents were still clueless as to their usual weekend activities of petty crimes. He was pretty sure that if they knew, Mrs. Clark would have a different opinion about how much time Joey spends with him.

“Well you know, the early bird catches the worm. Is it possible I could talk to him?” Frank asked, glancing over his shoulder to see if Clive was listening in on his conversation.

“Sure just give me a moment to wake him up,” She pulled the phone from her face and called for Joey to get the phone as it was for him. A few moments later and Frank could hear the sleepy voice on the receiver this time.

“Hello?”

“Hey it’s me,” Frank leaned against the nearest wall, back facing Clive and the blaring TV. “Can you and the girls meet me at our spot? I have some news.”

“What is it?” Joey asked.

“I’ll tell you guys when I see you, just meet me up there.” And with that Frank hung up and grabbed the keys to Clive’s truck.

“Where you going?” Clive called, his words only slightly heavy with alcohol.

“We’re running low on booze, I'm gonna pick some more up.” Frank lied, heading out to the garage before he could listen to any more of the man’s drunken rambles.

The late morning air was still chilled from the night before, this year's winter was going to be brutal like the one before it, he thought to himself as he pulled his mixtape out from his bag and shoved it into the stereo, turning the volume up before starting the engine and backing out of the driveway as the familiar guitar riff of Welcome to Paradise by Green Day started blasting through the speakers.

The unmaintained roads up to the lodge were easy enough to traverse as they hadn’t had any rain recently like the winter was holding out until it could drop a million inches of snow all at once. The sun was warm and beamed brightly through the canopy of pine branches this cloudless morning, dappling the ground in shadows. As the abandoned ski lodge came into view between the trees, Frank found a good spot to park next to the base of a broken lookout tower, grabbing his bag and heading inside. The glass of the broken doors crunched beneath his feet as he entered. A small part of him had hoped it was one of his friends just fooling around with tags, but none of them were brave enough to do something like that on their own, not without him there or him telling them to do it. Susie had a knack for art, but not graffiti. Joey would most likely do it, he and Frank had gone into the old mines before and tagged up the sides of the walls. But that didn’t look like his style of tag. Frank walked around the lodge thinking to himself as he kicked around an old torn up book whose printing had faded from the pages years ago and now was used for kindling whenever they lit fires in the fireplace. It didn’t take long until the sound of Joey’s car pulling around to park next to the truck could be heard, the doors opening then shutting as the three of them walked inside to see what news Frank had mentioned over the phone.

He sat down on one of the ruined sofas in the center, their colors faded from exposure to the weather, tossing his back pack onto the seat next to him as the other three filed in.

“What’s going on, Frank?” Joey asked, sitting down as well and kicking his feet up. Julie handed Susie a toaster strudel and the two girls ate in silence as they waited to hear why they were all dragged out of bed so early.

“Did you guys see the news this morning?” He asked curiously.

“I did,” Julie said in between bites, her green eyes looking up at him. “What about it?”

“Someone tagged the fucking police station last night.” He looked at all of them.

“It wasn’t you?” Susie asked.

“No it wasn’t fucking me.” Frank snapped, making her shrink away behind Julie and continue eating her strudel. “I was hoping it was one of you guys.”

“It wasn’t us, Frank.” Joey said calmly.

“No shit Sherlock, I’m piecing that together.” He shook his head.

“So what?” Julie shrugged. “So this person tagged the station, who cares? It’s not a big deal.”

Frank turned his gaze to her in a steely calm expression. “I guess not.”

“Do you think we should try and find out who did it?” Joey asked.

“We aren’t the fucking cops, I don’t think snooping around would help anything.” Frank said. “But if I do happen to find out or catch wind of whoever did it I’m going to kick his ass.”

“Oh don’t forget Frank, basketball tryouts are tomorrow.” Julie reminded him. That immediately brought him out of his state of rage. He had almost forgotten that tryouts for his favorite sport was after school. The thought of it had his mood brighten instantly. It was one of the few things he liked to do and was good at besides their extraordinary weekend activities and the only reason his grades were still somewhat decent.

“Oh yeah,” He mused, putting a thumb up to the stubble on his chin as he thought. “And hockey is coming up next month right? We were planning that party at your place when we both get accepted.”

“If you get accepted, I know I will,” she said with a smile. “Joey’s already on the wrestling team this year. Again.”

“What can I say, coach knows I’m one of the best.” Joey shrugged, not bothering to hide that smug expression.

“You just like grabbing the balls of other dudes in leotards.” Frank joked with him and the two laughed.

“And Julie likes beating the shit out of other people with sticks.” Joey commented. “Violence is a girl’s best friend, they say.”

“I got suspended for one season because the other person didn’t know what he was doing!” Julie protested. “It was one time.”

“Hey, I made these.” Susie said, trying not to be forgotten as she reached into the front pocket of her pull over and held out some pins for them. The other three crowded around her hands and looked through the bits of metal with painted designs.

“These are sick as fuck, Suze.” Frank said picking up a black one with the Legion smile in white paint. “I really should make a mask like this at some point.”

“Thanks.” She said with a small smile. Frank took the pin and adorned his bag with it, looking it over with a content smile. “Well, I do have a plan for tonight.”

“Tonight? Shouldn’t we wait until after tryouts?” Julie suggested.

“No. I want to deface the art on the police station. By now the town has probably started making plans to cover it up, but I want whoever did that to know this is our town.” He said, pulling out the spray cans from his bag.

“Well, if it gets covered up then we can go tag it after it’s painted over.” She said with a shrug.

“That will make it look like we’re copy cats and I’m not taking that shit.” Frank said, handing each of them a color.

“This is really starting to eat at you man,” Joey said, a bit concerned about how Frank was taking this as he looked at the can of paint he was handed. “Are you sure you don’t want to try and find out who did it?”

“If I happen to find out who did it, I’m going to beat the shit of him and make sure he never forgets what the bottom of my shoes look like.” Frank said calmly.

“Man, I got work later today and practice after school tomorrow.” Joey said to him.

“For fuck’s sake, I don’t know why you don’t quit there, your boss is a racist cunt.” Frank said. Joey heaved a sigh and put the can in his messenger bag, accepting that Frank wasn’t going to let them out of this one.

“I got my beef with him too, but I get good hours there at least.”

“The grind is terrible, Joey. I’ve seen how your dick head boss treats you.” Julie piped up, fiddling with the pin she chose that had a bloody knife painted on it.

“Ah god, not you too. I can’t quit! My dad would kill me for sure!” Joey rolled his eyes.

“So tonight then? Is it settled?” Frank asked if they had a choice in the matter. They all looked at each other and nodded. “Good.”

“You guys wanna come over and go swimming before it gets too cold?” Julie asked them.

“Are your aunt and uncle still visiting from Quebec with their kids?” Frank asked, detesting the idea of being around Julie’s family. Her aunt was always giving him dirty looks because he had tattoos, telling her mom that he was a bad influence on Julie and that they shouldn’t be left alone together for fear of- Frank shuddered. He didn’t like Julie like that, she was attractive and smart, yes, but she just wanted to use him to dip out of Ormond at some point and he knew it. Once the initial newness and interest of Frank moving to their small town wore off, her sexual interest in him had also died down and he was glad for that.

“Nah, they left after dinner last night.” She assured him. “C’mon, it’ll be fun. I’ll ask my dad to grill us up some burgers.”

Frank moaned at the mention of her father’s burgers, feeling the coke he had earlier for breakfast start to evaporate at the mention of solid food. Man knew his way around a grill and also made some damn good steaks as well.

“Hell yeah, that sounds like a bomb idea.” He smiled which made the other three laugh.

“Clive still not feeding you?” Joey asked.

“A steady diet of condescension, alcohol and potato chips.” Frank shrugged. “Let’s go, I’m hungrier than a prostitute that gives five dollar hand jobs.”


	2. Julie's Mixtape

“MOVE FUCKERS!”

Julie covered her face from the splash that Frank made when he jumped into the chilly water. His head bobbed to the surface and he smiled at her, shaking some of the water from his hair. Julie’s mixtape was blasting from the boombox speakers that were set up on the back porch.

“You suck Morrison!” Joey called to him as he was climbing the ladder out to jump in himself. He stood a few feet away from the pool's edge, the water dripping off him as he flexed his legs to leap in. Frank let out a yelp as he tried swimming out of the way but ultimately got caught up in the tidal wave from the beefcake cannonballing right next to him. Susie was dancing on the porch in her skirt and a bikini top to the music with a pair of Julie’s sunglasses stuck on top of her pink head. Frank swam to the surface again at the same Joey did, giving him a splash before climbing out and grabbing a towel.

He walked up to the porch to grab a drink of Sprite, sitting at the table as he watched his friends enjoy themselves. Joey dunked Julie under the water with loud protesting from her before her head was submerged. She came back up and slapped him in the chest before wiping her face off and laughing. Frank watched Susie for a moment before she caught him looking and she gave a nervous laugh. He returned the smile and got up, grabbing her hand to twirl her around to the beat of Whitney’s Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” joining her as he laughed, feeling stupid and clumsy as dancing wasn’t something he did often. Susie didn’t seem to mind as their hips swayed together and he dipped her backwards for a moment before extending their arms. She spun so her back was facing him, holding his hands as they stepped side to side.

Julie laughed as she sat on Joey’s shoulders from in the pool, singing along with the lyrics until her mother came out and turned down the volume. All four pairs of eyes turned to look at her and the phone in her hand.

“Joey, it’s your father!” She called out to him in the pool. He pushed Julie backwards into the water off his shoulders and scrambled for his towel, leaping up the back porch steps and taking the phone from Mrs. Baker’s hand, disappearing through the backdoor into the house. She looked at Frank and Susie with a smile as she stepped out of the way for Joey to enter the house. “You kids having fun?”

“He- erh, yeah, thank you Mrs. Baker.” Frank said as he fumbled over not swearing, releasing Susie’s hands to stand up straight.

“Good, let me know if you need anything.” She offered.

“Will do.” He nodded.

“Thank you,” Susie added as Julie climbed out as well, resting on a lounge chair. Her mom nodded to the three of them and went back inside.

Frank took a breath and sat down again, waiting for Joey to return from his phone call. Susie sat across from him, playing with the sunglasses in silence as she looked around the back yard. He looked at her for a moment before humming the last song they listened to which made her giggle.

“You’re terrible at singing Frank,” She said, not looking away from the glasses.

“Fine then, fuck you too!” He joked with a laugh, pretending to be offended. “Good thing I’m not in choir.”

“Oh god, I don’t think any person on this earth could fail that class except you.” She snickered, bringing a hand up to her mouth to hide the fact she was smiling.

“I’ll stick with basketball, thanks.” He rolled his eyes as Joey came back out, half dressed and pulling on his sneakers appearing to be in some state of panic. “What happened?”

“My boss called my dad, he wants me to go in early today so I gotta bounce.” He explained to the three of them, grabbing his shirt from one of the chairs, yanking it down over his head.

“Are you fucking serious?” Frank asked, feeling the happy mood of the afternoon suddenly spoil.

“Yeah man, I’ll see you later tonight though.”

He was happy Joey hadn’t forgotten the plans they made for that evening. “Sure thing. You know Susie and I are gonna stay for dinner here, so we’ll be out to meet you after dark.”

“Okay, later Jules, Suze. See ya Frank.” The boys bumped fists.

“Bye Joey.” Susie said in a soft voice.

“Later shit head.” Julie said glumly.

Joey left the three of them sitting there in silence as Julie got up and turned the boom box off, pulling her tape from the slot and waving for her friends to follow them inside. Frank got up from the table but waited for Susie to follow after she grabbed her own shirt and pulled it on over her bikini top before following them in. Julie went up the stairs to her room so she could change back into some day clothes. Frank honestly didn’t mind being shirtless, he would give any chance to show off the tattoos he had acquired throughout his adolescence, his favorite was the snarling wolf on his left shoulder blade.

“Julia, I’m heading to the store for dinner, keep the front door locked while I’m out please!” Mrs. Baker called up to them.

“Sure thing, mom.” Julie said back down to her.

“What’s your mom going to the store for?” Frank asked.

“She’s making mashed potatoes and picking up steaks for tonight.” Julie said entering her room then slapping her tape into the little stereo on her dresser and rummaging around in her closet for something to throw on as Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel” started playing. “She always comments on how you eat like you’re starving so she makes extra stuff when you’re over.”

Julie pulled on a crop top and jeans over her swimsuit before flopping onto her four post bed, Susie sat at her vanity and messed with some of the jewelry that was hanging from the mirrors and Frank stretched out on that lovely carpeted floor, hearing his back pop before relaxing.

“Oohhh fuck. We still got some time to kill, what do you guys wanna do?” He asked, looking between them.

“We could play monopoly.” Julie suggested then laughed at Frank’s face. He remembered the time she kicked his ass at that game after promising to go easy.

“Hell no, you cheat.” He said.

“I do not, you just suck.” She laughed, looking at him on the floor.

“We could play truth or dare?” Susie shrugged.

“Frank is way too mean at that game, Susie.” Julie reminded her.

“He’s only mean to Joey and he’s not here right now.” Susie looked over her shoulder at the other girl.

“That’s ‘cause Joey will do anything.” Frank snickered.

“Alright fine, Frank. Truth or dare.” Julie asked him. Frank sat up thinking, wondering why he was put on the spot first.

“Truth.”

“Have you ever had any sexual encounters with a guy?” Julie asked.

Frank laughed before he let out a groan. “Yeah I have.” He answered. “Okay, Susie, truth or dare?”

She smiled. “Truth.”

“What was the best sex you have ever had?” He asked.

“I’ve never had sex Frank, pick a better one.” She said.

Frank heaved a sigh and thought. “Okay fine but you asked for it. Have you ever had a wet dream?”

Susie made a face that was somewhere between smirking and disgusted. “Yeah, who hasn’t? Frank, truth or dare?”

“Wait, you’re not gonna ask Julie?” He asked, looking at her.

“No, truth or dare?” She repeated. He could see the gears working behind her eyes.

“Dare…?” He said cautiously.

“I dare you to let me draw on your face with a sharpie.” She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.

“Fuck! Oh I see what’s going on now, you two are gonna bully the shit out of me until I wimp out, huh?”

“Are you gonna chicken out on your first dare?” Susie challenged him.

“You can draw on my back or arms, leave my gorgeous face out of this.” He said and Julie snorted.

“Whatever Susie would do to your face, it would make you look better.” The blonde said.

“Now that’s just mean.” He said.

“Okay, I’ll draw on your arm but you can’t look until I’m finished.” Susie said, picking up a sharpie from the vanity top and sitting on the floor next to him to draw. “Julie, it’s your turn.”

“Susie, truth or dare?” She asked her.

“Truth.”

“Who was your wet dream about?”

Susie closed her eyes and groaned before continuing her art. “Mr. Roberts from Chem class.” She admitted.

“Oo, he is good looking but he’s married.” Julie said, flipping through a hockey gear magazine.

“Mr. Roberts had a pedo stash for a month once before it all grew back.” Frank said, remembering that year.

“He grew it out because you kept laughing at him.” Susie giggled.

“Julie, truth or dare?”

“Mmm, dare.” She mused.

Frank got a devious grin. “Show me where you keep your dildo.”

Julie looked up at him from her magazine. “Who told you I even have one?”

“Joey.”

“Goddamnit, Joey.” She sighed and got up from her bed, going to her closet and pulling out a shoe box. “I keep it here.” She said and went to shove it back in her closet.

“How do I know it’s in there?”

“What, you wanna see it or something?” She asked then shook her head before stuffing the box back where it was before. “Susie, it’s your turn.”

“Okay, hold on I’m almost- don’t look!” She pushed Frank’s face away. After a few seconds, she pulled away and capped the marker. “Done.” Frank looked at his bicep where she had sketched The Legion smile.

“Dope Suze, you should give me my next tattoo.” He said.

“Thanks. Frank, truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Do you prefer to have sex with guys or girls?” Susie sat back admiring her work, tilting her head to the side to make sure it looked right.

“Oh Jesus, honestly whoever will let me fuck them the hardest, I guess.” He shrugged.

“You’re into that?” Julie looked skeptical as she flipped to another page.

“What? Rough sex?”

“Yeah, you seem like the type to take things slow and romantic. Ya know?” She shrugged then oo-ed over something she saw she liked.

“Nah, cuddles afterwards do sound good though.” He shrugged, not sure if this topic should continue so he took a drink of his Sprite.

“Okay, Susie truth or dare?”

“Dare.” She said looking up at Julie.

“I dare you to suck on Frank’s cock.”

He choked on his drink and Susie stared at her friend in shock. “What?” She asked in a whisper.

“Yeah, just go for it, I won’t watch.”

“Julie,” Frank said, his expression hardening as he looked at the blonde. “I don’t think she wants to. Right, Suze?” He looked at the pink headed girl who blushed and looked away. “Suze?”

Julie gave a smile. “Right Suze?” She echoed him.

“Julie, that’s not fair.” She said, taking on her shy soft tone again.

“Are you gonna chicken out from your first dare?” Julie taunted.

Susie looked at him, her blue eyes searching his face.

“Well, she’s not chickening out, I am.” Frank said. “Pick a different dare.”

“Damn Franky, you got real cranky about that one.” Julie sighed and sat up on her bed. “Why don’t you just tell him, Susie?” She said to the other girl.

“Tell me what?” Frank asked, looking at Susie as well. She shrank back away from him and he turned his eyes to Julie. “Tell me what?”

“Nothing, forget it. Let’s do something else.”

“That sounds like a good idea…” Frank sighed with the feeling he should probably get dressed. He grabbed his bag from where it sat in the corner, getting up leaving the room to change in the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror, sighing at the little bit of facial hair that was starting to grow on his jaw. He’d have to start shaving his face soon and that was a thought he dreaded. When he came back Susie was angrily whispering something to Julie, looking between the two girls confused.

“What’s going on?” He asked them.

“Nothing.” Susie said quickly and left the room, her footsteps traveling down the stairs and out the back door.

“What did you say to her?” Frank asked Julie now that they were alone, getting the feeling all the questions about what he likes in bed were not just simple mindless questions.

“All I said was that she should tell you.” Julie said, rolling her eyes.

“Tell me what?” He asked, stepping up to her, looking down at her with a deadly glare. She looked back at him, her sharp green eyes staring at him with no expression whatsoever.

“How she feels about you.” She answered after a few seconds of this staring contest.

“Goddamnit, Julie.” He groaned.

“What, do you not have feelings for her?”

“I do just-... Just not like that.” He said before turning and heading out of her room.

“Where are you going?” Julie asked.

“To talk to her.” Frank didn’t know how he got himself into this mess but now he had to clean it up. He went out the back door to see Susie sitting by the edge of the pool with her feet in the water, swishing them back and forth. He went over and sat next to her. “Hey.”

She was silent, not looking at him. From the way she acted around him, it was hard to tell what she was thinking.

“Look Suze… I don’t know what’s going on, but will ya just talk to me about it?” He asked. She was still silent but her legs stopped moving in the water. He put an arm around her shoulders and looked at her face. “Susie?”

“What?” She asked.

“Can you just talk to me about it?”

“There is nothing to talk about.”

Frank moved his arm from around her shoulders and nodded. “Hey I just don’t want anything to get in the way of us.” He said. She looked over at him but didn’t say anything. “I honestly haven’t considered dating anyone since I moved here-” When he saw the defeated look on her face he knew he fucked up by saying that. “-But listen, you’re still my best friend. And I will protect you no matter what.”

“I know you don’t have feelings for me… I was hoping maybe you would give me a chance or something but I understand.” She said, looking at the rippling water.

Frank sighed. “Let’s think about it after tonight?” He fumbled weakly with a half smile.

“Really?” She asked looking up at him and he nodded. “Okay… I was curious though, what did you have in mind to cover up the graffiti?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's an update! It's been a minute and I'm really enjoying fleshing this one out. I wanted to go in depth with the relationships between the Legion and the lesser people in their lives just to breathe life into this story.


	3. Mischief List

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Legion decide to take revenge on this stranger that's attempting to claim Ormond.

Frank climbed out of the front passenger side of the car, grabbing his bag from the floorboard with more spray cans inside. Joey climbed out of the driver seat and helped Susie out along with Julie’s boom box. Frank tossed her his mix tape as Julie climbed out as well, holding all their masks. They parked a few blocks away from the police station but something was unusually off about Main St. Susie slapped in the tape before putting her mask on and pulling her hood up. Joey tied his bandana around his face and adjusted it so he could see out of the eye holes. Frank handed them more paint cans before pulling his mask down and nodding to Julie. The four of them walked under the cover of darkness when Julie noticed what was so weird.

“All the lights are off.” She said to the others as she looked around in suspicion, her blank white mask turning to them to see if they should stop now.

“Good,” Frank said, a fire lighting in his chest at the thought of revenge. “Means no one can see us.” He slipped under the caution tape and turned on one one of the lanterns they usually take with them when heading up to the lodge.

Susie set the box down and hit play as he uncapped two spray cans. The echoing riff of “Welcome to the Jungle” started playing as he and Julie started first, going crazy with covering up the first painting. Susie stood back trying to figure out what it said before it became illegible and Joey helped raise Julie up off the ground so she could get the top part. When the majority of the colorful tag was covered in black, Frank handed Susie a spray can and she started with her own designs, doing a sick as fuck Legion smile first in a dark blue color before going over that with a red one in some sort of weird 3d effect, dowing the same thing for the hunting knife design she made based off of Frank’s favorite knife and the mixtape art, highlighting it all with streaks of white. Frank added some purple devil wings to the mixtape design and some faint purple streaks across the Legion smile as if it were bleeding before turning to Susie and holding out his bandaged fist for a bump. She obliged and bumped fists with him as the four of them stood back and looked at their work.

Frank put his hands behind his head and smiled, not that the others could see his pleasure. The smell of paint clung to them like a bad perfume and he enjoyed it.

“Good work, Suze.” He praised her.

“Thanks. Ma-” She started to say before a car parked on the side of the road across the street spontaneously exploded. The four of them all spun around to see it go up in flames from a Molotov cocktail, but Frank caught a glimpse of someone running down the road away from them. He pulled his knife from his coat and ran after him.

“Get back here mother fucker!” He screamed, turning a corner to see him hop onto a skateboard on the sidewalk, orange and pale blue streaks of spray paint lining the front of the Main Street shops as he used the momentum of the sloping streets to get a good head start. There was a moment where Frank was catching up on foot until this person looked back at him, saw he was gaining and crouched down low on the board to pick up more speed then taking a sharp left into an alley. Frank followed not too far behind but when he turned the corner all that remained of this person was his spray cans, rolling on the ground in front of him. He looked down the alley and cursed before he noticed the same tag on the front of another building.

Sirens from the fire department could be heard not too far away as Joey pulled up next to Frank in his car.

“Get in!” He called to him. Frank put his knife back into his coat before running towards the car, sliding over the hood and hopping back into the passenger front seat. He tore off his mask and huffed. “Did you see him?”

“Yeah I saw the fucker.” Frank growled out. “I’m gonna kick his ass.”

“What did he look like?” Susie asked, taking off her own mask.

“Baggy pants, skateboard, some weird colorful coat, I think?” He remembered.

“What happened to him?”

“I don’t know, he just disappeared when I turned the corner. Probably a good thing too, if I would have caught him I would have kicked his ass.” He grumbled.

“Why did the car go up in flames like that?” Julie wondered.

“Molotov.” Frank explained. “You stick a rag or paper in the top of an alcohol bottle, light it on fire and then throw it at something. The alcohol catches the flames and the fire spreads like crazy.”

“Ah fuck man, I hope no one else saw us. I don’t want to get in trouble for vandalism and arson.” Joey said, taking a deep breath as they all headed back to Julie’s house.

“We won’t,” Frank assured them all, turning in his seat to face him. “We aren’t going to get in trouble from that, there aren’t any fingerprints and the only other person that saw us was the dick fuck that started this. Not like he’s going to call the cops on himself.” He watched them all visibly relax but they were still concerned about it. “Guys, we have an alibi anyway, Susie and I were at Julie’s, Joey was passed out at home. No big deal.”

“So what do we do now?” Susie whispered after things calmed down and it got quiet in the cab of the car.

“We go home and sleep, wake up and go to school all shocked to hear the news about what happened.” Frank turned to sit properly in his seat as he spoke in a nonchalant tone.

“Sounds like a plan, I’m beat from work today.” Joey gave a tired sigh.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence as Joey dropped the other three off then went home himself. They snuck into Julie’s room as quietly as they could through her bedroom window and Frank just laid on the floor feeling so unbelievably angry that it was hard for him to sleep, even on the carpet.

Susie peered over the edge of the bed at him. “I had fun.” She whispered.

He looked up at her and gave a smile. “Good. You did amazing work tonight.”

She nodded and looked around Julie’s dark room. “Why are you still awake?”

“Why are you?”

“Fair point. I was just thinking about what you said earlier.”

“Which thing?” He asked, rolling onto his back.

“You said you would think about it after tonight? Are you really going to?”

“I told you I would, right? I gave you my word.” He said.

“Okay. It said Mashtyx, by the way.”

“What?”

“The tag we covered. It said Mashtyx.”

“What the hell does that even mean?” Frank wondered aloud.

“I don’t know. Anyway, good night.” She laid back down in Julie’s bed.

“Night Suze.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo look at that two chapters in one day!


	4. Scratched Ruler

It was all the school was talking about. The mayor's car was set ablaze last night right outside the courthouse across the street from the police station that had been tagged AGAIN. All the buzz about it was putting Frank in a bad mood, despite the fact he was trying to act all surprised and cool about it. He hated it so much and it made him want to skip for the day but tryouts were after hours and he had to be on his best behavior. He waited on the picnic table by the hockey rink outside the Gym, their usual meet up spot before they go to class underneath a dark gray sky that held a foreboding promise of rain. In the next months the hockey rink would have ice and Julie would get to try out for their school’s team. His classmates were walking by, chattering about nonsense and a new student that would be arriving today for school but he didn’t listen to any of it. He couldn’t care less about it as Susie and Joey walked up to sit with him at the table.

“Hey, where’s Julie?” He asked them.

“She is grabbing some extra credit work for World History.” Susie said.

“Icckkk, History…” Frank rolled his eyes. “Great, so how did you sleep, Joey?”

“Like the dead. And I’m still tired! I hope I can make it through practice without passing out.” He rubbed his face in his hands.

“Hey losers.” Julie said, shoving some papers in her bag as she approached. “Oh Frank, we’re getting a new student in our class.”

“That’s gross.”

“Be nice. She’s from Sweden.” Julie sat down with them and handed Susie an applesauce cup.

“The fuck? Sweden? Where the hell is that?” He asked.

“Europe.” Susie said, her fingers feeling around the edges of the cup. “It’s in Europe, Frank.”

“Great, a foreigner.”

“Just be nice, you don’t have to talk to her.” Julie said right before the starting bell chimed. “Time to learn something, guys.” She said, standing up and heading into the building. Joey got up with Susie and the four of them went to their respective classes for the day.

* * *

If Frank had to sit through another moment of “Romeo & Juliet” in his English class, he felt like he was going to rip his eyeballs out of their sockets, finding that the words all sounded like bullshit about halfway through the hour. Ms. Diaz was reading from her copy of the book and walking between the desks as she did so. As soon as she passed by him, Frank looked over his shoulder at the new kid sitting next to the windows. She was lanky but well built for being thin, her dark hair was cut short and she was chewing a piece of bubble gum, not bothering to open her book whatsoever as she stared out into the cloudy sky. Frank let his mind wander to what Sweden was like as he had nothing else better to think about and listening to the teacher gave him a headache. Her pink sweater had a black cat on the front with black polka dots all over and she was wearing a pretty short mini skirt with black combat boots. Outfits like that wouldn’t be good apparel for the harsh winters that were coming in fast.

He turned his gaze to Julie who was reading her book with intensity, following along with what Ms. Diaz was reading aloud. The teacher walked over to her desk at the front of the room, picked up a trash can and walked over to the new girl, holding it out for her to spit her gum out. She looked up at the teacher for a moment before her black lips made a blowing shape and she spit her gum into the trash, flipping off the teacher behind her back as she walked away. If Frank didn’t know any better, he would say that she wasn’t having the best first day at a new school. She glanced over at him and he quickly turned his head back to his book, not really reading, but making it look like he was.

“Ms. Karlsson, is there a reason you don’t want to read along with the rest of us?” Ms. Diaz spoke up, putting a bookmark in the pages before setting it down. The new girl shrugged.

“Shakespearean literature is probably one of the worst American stereotypes to tea _ sh _ in a classroom setting.” She spoke up, her accent strange sounding in Frank’s ears. He made a face at the way she sounded. “Romeo & _ Je _ uliet being the worst one of all. There are no favorable morals to a story where a 14 and a 15 year old kill themselves over what they believe is love.”

Ms. Diaz listened to what she had to say with a curt nod. “Interesting perspective, Ms. Karlsson. What would you recommend we read instead?” Frank felt his eyes tugging to look over at her, curious to hear what she had to say.

“If we are keeping on the topic of American literature, I would say ‘Girl, Interrupted’. A Memoir written by American author Susanna Kaysen.” She said. “It deals with mental illness in the late 1960’s and mentions of suicide, whi _ sh _ I would say has been on the rise within the past few decades. A good starter for young adults that may relate to real world situations, especially when in need of a contact to prevent real world problems such as thoughts of suicide and self harm. At least, it’s better than some fantasy love story between two preteens that actually kill themselves.”

The class erupted in a chorus of soft giggles and Frank looked up at the clock to see how much time until this period was over then looked to Julie, who looked back at him with a questioning expression. He shrugged and put his head on the desk. This hour was going to drag like a mother fucker. It already was. He just wanted to play some ball, blow off some steam and go the fuck home.

“Interesting choice of literature, I’ll have to look into it for myself. But for now, we have to continue on with this fantasy love story between two preteens.” She chuckled and continued reading, making Frank want to tear his eyeballs out even more.

* * *

Frank sat outside the gym after tryouts, waiting for Joey’s practice to be over so the two of them could go home. Julie and Susie left right after school to watch Evil Dead and re-dye Susie’s hair while the two boys did sports. Frank was sketching in the back of his notebook something he wanted Susie to paint up in the lodge for them. Frank had met this one guy in the movie rental store and appreciated his art quite a bit, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to bother him for a commission. They hardly had money, what could they offer him?

A strange and foreign sound rumbled through the school halls, almost drowning out the sounds of Joey's practice from inside the gym. Frank looked up and saw that new kid skating down the halls and reading a book as she used her weight to steer, only breaking sight with the pages when she needed to kick the ground for speed. He tucked his knees in as she passed by, kicking her board up into her hands to go to what he assumed was her locker.

"Why do you have to skate here?" He asked, irritated by her very presence around him. Something about her got his balls all twisted up in knots and he felt annoyed whenever she was close by.

"The sidewalks are good here." She shrugged, pulling the lock off and grabbing her bag.

"I meant do you have to skate right in front of me? In the halls?”

“What are you, teacher’s pet? You are sitting where my storage is located anyway.” 

Frank started to feel pissed off again when he was called a teacher’s pet. “By the time winter comes, all the sidewalks will be frozen over. The janitor will throw rock salt to melt it all but I don't think having those rocks in your wheels will be very good for them." He closed his notebook and tapped the cover with the end of his pen. She pulled the straps of her brown fabric backpack onto her shoulders and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you trying to scare me?" She asked with a laugh.

"Nah, that would be too easy." Frank said.

"Good because you suck at it." She said with one hand on the nose of her board. "I can see what you're doing and honestly save your breath." She turned and slammed her locker shut, clicking the padlock on it.

"Do you always sound like you're garbling a bag of dicks?" He taunted.

"Do you always garble bags of dicks?" She asked, throwing her board onto the ground and hopping onto it before kicking off down the hall.

Frank glared at her back as Joey came out of the gym with his gear bag over one shoulder. He looked down at Frank then up to the stranger before looking down at him again.

"You talk to her?" He asked his friend.

Frank stood up, grabbing his stuff. "Yeah I did, fucking bitch."

"Damn she is  _ HOT  _ though _."  _ Joey said looking back up at her as she skated away.

"Totally, real piece of work, that one. Can we just go? I got a fuck ton of math homework I need Julie to help me with from Mr. Scott's class. It's like he knows I'm trying to get into basketball." Joey nodded to him and they headed out to his car, the smell of rain was heavy now and thunder rumbled up in the clouds, alighting them with each faint flash of lightening.

"So what did she say to you, man?" Joey asked as he unlocked the trunk to throw his gear bag in.

"Nothing important." He shrugged then climbed into his seat when the trunk slammed shut. "Hey, you remember what I said last night about the guy on the skateboard?" He asked as his best friend climbed into the car with him.

Joey took a second to process what Frank was referring to. "Yeah? He got away, right?"

"Yeah he did. But I just find it a little odd that he skateboards just like the new person does." Frank said, eyeing the school building to see if he could see her walk out of anywhere.

"Didn't you say it was a dude, though?" Joey put the keys into the ignition and started the engine.

"I think so, but it was dark and really hard for me to tell."

"Maybe she has an older brother?" Joey offered up the weak idea. Frank gave him a dirty look. "Oh c'mon man, she isn't the only person to skateboard in this shitty place. You aren't seriously considering that she could have possibly been the one that blew up the mayor's car and tagged the station?"

"Think about it, a new person moves to town and starts causing trouble because they are unhappy with this shitty place. If she's from Sweden then she had to leave everything she grew up with behind."

"Almost sounds like you're describing yourself…" Joey muttered, putting the car into drive and pulling out of the parking lot.

"I'm serious!" Frank laughed. "I have seen it all the time back in foster care before I moved here."

"I don't know, man." Joey shook his head but kept his eyes on the road as he spoke. "Maybe you're just jealous that you aren't the new person in town anymore. All this tagging shit has you worked up."

"You seriously think I'm jealous?" Frank asked in disbelief as rain started sprinkling down on his windshield.

"I don't know! All I am saying is you're letting this go to your head. How about tomorrow at lunch we make some plans? Ya know, get your mind off things, maybe drive to the city on Saturday and take the girls to the mall?"

Frank huffed in his seat but noticed someone walking down the road. He squinted at that pink sweater when he realized who it was.

"Oh shit…" Joey cursed. "Should we pick her up?"

"Nah let her walk. She'll get used to the weather up here faster."

Joey ignored him and slowed down to match her pace, rolling down his window and looking at her. "Need a lift?" He offered her with a smile. She narrowed her eyes and stopped walking to look in the car at the two of them. Frank looked out his window away from her, grinding his teeth together in frustration.

"Are you going to kidnap me?" She asked Joey, her makeup starting to run down her face.

Joey looked at her confused. "No?"

"Then no, I don't need a ride." She started walking down the sidewalk again. Joey looked at Frank confused before following her.

"It's cold and wet, I'll take you home." He offered.

"Who said I wanted to go home?" She asked, looking at him as she kept walking, her board tucked under one arm.

"Well uh, if you don't want to then you can come hang out with us." Joey shrugged. Frank snapped his head over to Joey, a look of murder in his eyes.

"Hang out with strangers that are going to kidnap me?" She asked with a smile.

"If that's what you want." He returned the smile back, trying to ignore the death glare he was getting from Frank.

She stopped walking and nodded. "Sure, I suppose that sounds not boring." Joey stopped the car and unlocked the doors for her and she climbed into the back seat, throwing her board and bag onto the seat next to her before shutting the door and buckling up.

When they started driving again she shook out the water from her hair and rifled around in her bag for something.

"So what's your name?" Joey asked.

"Nea," she answered, taking out a small mirror and a tube of black lipstick to reapply it to her pouty lips.

"I'm Joey and this is my best friend Frank." He introduced them.

"So you are the person who's cock he likes to suck?" She asked him. Joey looked at Frank startled and confused.

"What?" He asked her with a breathy laugh. Frank sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Your friend was making fun of my accent and just so happened to me he likes to suck cock." Nea explained to Joey. Frank turned around in his seat to glare at that smug face of hers.

"I didn't say that and you know it." He growled

"Are you sure? That’s what it sounded like to me." She smiled at him. He opened his mouth to speak but Joey interrupted.

"Hey guys, c'mon. We can be friends." He said to the two of them. "Franky here is just a little rough around the edges." Joey turned onto Julie's street. "So where are you from in Sweden?"

"You wouldn't know the name of the place even if I told you." She said, stuffing her things back in her bag.

"That's probably true." He admitted. "Frank, can you stop staring at her?"

Frank didn't break eye contact with her as his mind bubbled furiously with so many questions. He wanted to know if she was the one that started all this shit for them, if she threw that Molotov at his Legion. Nea stared back at him with a smile before spreading her legs and pulling her skirt up her thighs in a taunting manner. He turned back around in his seat before he could watch anymore of that, disgusted. She smelled like rain and perfume but not a good perfume, something musty like flowers and berries.

He was all too happy to jump out when Joey pulled into Julie's driveway and turned the engine off, relieved to get away from that smell and her in general, heading in through the front door to see her dad sitting in front of the TV reading a paper and listening to the radio. It was warm and welcoming, the smell of Mrs. Baker’s cooking would usually make him hungry, but right now he was so worked up he didn’t want to think about eating, a different sort of hunger took up the entirety of his thoughts. Julie’s father looked at Frank over the rim of his glasses before reading the paper again. "Hey there Frank." He greeted him.

"What's happening, Mr. Baker?" He asked as he walked up stairs to Julie's room, seeing Susie on her bed with a towel wrapped around her head. Julie was working on some homework while listening to her mixtape.

"Goddamnit…" He cursed as he closed the bedroom door and shrugged off his jacket.

"What is it?" Susie asked, sitting up and taking the towel off her freshly dyed hair. Julie looked up from her work at him.

"We have company." He growled.


	5. Mashtyx

Nea unbuckled her seat belt as the grumpy teen in the front slammed his door shut and went into the pretty log house. Joey climbed out of the driver seat at the same time she climbed out of the back, covering her head with her skateboard to shield her from some of the rain. It wasn’t gigantic but it was fancy and the front yard was well kept, she noticed as she approached the front door with him.

She wanted to ask him if his friend was always pissy but she decided she had said enough and didn’t want to upset them anymore as he opened the door and stepped in, holding it for her. There was apple pie baking from wherever the kitchen was located, the smell was absolutely wonderful. She wondered if this is what it felt like coming home to a white picket fence home with two loving parents that paid attention.

“Hey Mr. Baker,” Joey greeted the chubby man sitting in the living room with a standing lamp behind one shoulder, reading a newspaper.

“Hey there Joey.” He glanced up again and saw her standing there. “Who's your friend?”

“This is Nea. She’s new to our school.” Joey introduced them.

He folded his paper and rose to his feet, stepping up to greet her with a hand shake. “John Baker.”

Nea took his hand, curiosity flooding her as she realized he wasn’t turned away by her appearance. “Nea,” She responded then added. “Karlsson.”

“Dearest we have a guest,” Mr. Baker called into the kitchen.

“Is it Julie’s friends?” Nea heard an unseen feminine voice ask.

“Yeah, Frank just went up to Julie’s room in a hurry and Joey’s here with a new friend.” He went back to sitting in his chair as an older woman emerged from behind a wall. She saw Joey and smiled at him before her green eyes landed on Nea. She was a tall woman of medium build and curly red hair.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Cynthia.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Nea felt like she wanted to open up but this was all strange territory and she was starting to sink back further behind her walls.

“Where are you from, dear?” Cynthia asked.

“She’s from Sweden, Mrs. Baker. Just started today, I saw her walking in the rain so Frank and I picked her up.” Joey explained.

“Well aren’t you boys sweet?” She said to Joey, which made Nea scoff back an exasperated laugh. Her head turned and she looked up the stairs to see a face in a doorway before it shut quickly. “Well, Julie and Susie are up stairs if you guys want to go and hang out, I’m almost finished with dinner.”

Joey nodded then motioned for Nea to follow him up the steps, entering a very nice bedroom. The walls were painted a soft blue and the furniture looked expensive. The pink haired girl Nea saw earlier that day was sitting on the bed, and the strawberry blond girl from English class was fiddling with a sports magazine. Frank of course was standing near the window with his back to her.

“Hey guys,” Joey said to the three of them. “This is Nea.”

“Hi,” The pink haired girl said timidly, glancing at Frank for a moment then away. Nea looked at her with a small smile. She was absolutely adorable in her plaid pink skirt with black leggings and oversized pull on sweater that she swam in. Nea narrowed her eyes for a second at the sweater, realizing these were the same four people she had scared on Main St last night, the ones who covered her tag on the police building.

“I’m Julie.” The blonde girl said, not meeting her eyes.

“Hey, Nea? Can I talk to my friends alone for a sec?” Joey asked her. She gave a nod and turned to leave the room, heading back down stairs as the door shut behind her. She looked at the framed pictures of the family on the wall seeing many faces she didn’t know but a few of them had a younger pink haired girl in them with Julie but she had dark brown hair and they were both real little in them. There was a family photo that seemed to be from only a year or two ago with Cynthia, John and Julie dressed very nicely, her mother quite pregnant in that one. She wondered where the baby was, she hadn’t heard any crying or child babbling. That’s when she noticed a very small silver urn on top of a china cabinet.

She looked away from the urn, clenching her jaw. This family didn’t deserve to have lost a child. They seemed so sweet and nice, like they had a very good thing going for them. Nea wandered into the kitchen to see Cynthia setting a table in the kitchen for seven people.

“Oh hello there! Are you a vegetarian by any chance?” She asked Nea. “I made some chili with ground turkey.”

“No, I’m not a vegetarian.” Nea said. “Your house is lovely.”

“Thank you,” She smiled. “So you’re from Sweden? I’ve traveled to Stockholm before but that was a long time ago, way before you were born.”

“I’m from Hjo,” Nea said. “A place not much bigger than this one but we have beaches there.”

“Does it get cold there as well?” Cynthia asked, walking over to an unusually large crock pot where she pulled the lid off and stirred the food. The smell was pleasant, roasted tomatoes, black beans, pepper, garlic, turkey and other spices Nea couldn’t name off the top of her head.

“It does, it’s almost always cold there. I used to always ask my parents if we could get a house with a fireplace.” Nea smiled.

A little timer started ringing from on top of the oven and the woman went to silence it at once, turning the oven off.

“Would you mind going to get the other kids? Dinner is ready now and I’m sure Frank would love to eat.” Cynthia gave a playful eye roll and laughed.

“Does he not eat?” Nea asked.

“Oh he does. Trust me he does.”

* * *

Nea felt like she was going to be sick from watching Frank scarf down his third bowl of the chili Cynthia had prepared. They all had a slice of home baked wheat bread and butter for their sides with their choice of drinks. Nea had picked water, Julie and Frank grabbed a coke, Susie had grabbed a huge glass of orange juice and Joey had a Sprite. Nea was trying her best to ignore the cold glares from Frank, she was used to the chill by now, but his blue eyes seemed to try and figure her out which made her feel really fucking weird like he was undressing her with his gaze. Gods, if he just wanted some pussy all he had to do was ask nicely.

“How is it?” Cynthia asked him, finishing up her own bowl.

“Fuckin’ great,” he said in between bites but hesitated, looking up at the older woman giving him a stern look. “Sorry, I mean it’s really good.”

“Thank you.” she said. Susie glanced over at Nea but her curiosity was an innocent one, lots of simple questions rattling around underneath that pink hair.

“Yes?” Nea asked her and she shyly averted her gaze.

“Susie’s shy at first-” Joey started but was interrupted with a wince. He looked across the table at Frank, mouthing something as he reached down under the table to rub his shin.

Cynthia stood up and took hers and her husband’s dishes to the sink to rinse them out before the two adults bid the 5 of them good night and headed up stairs.

“Dude, what the hell?” Joey hissed at Frank.

“Sorry man, I was just stretching, didn’t know your legs were there.” He shrugged. “Can you take me home? I am super tired from tryouts today.”

“I guess, yeah. Nea, do you need a ride home?” Joey asked.

“I would appreciate it but you don’t have to.” She said as she took her own dishes to the sink and rinsed them out. While her back was turned, she could hear Frank whispering something to the other three, straining to hear what was being said.

“-she’s not one of us, stop acting like she is.”

“Don’t be so rude Frank, she’s new.” That was Julie

“I don’t care, I don’t trust her.”

“You hate everything that’s new, it’s not like she’s going to come between us.”

“What is your problem, bro?” Joey asked.

“I have… My reasons. We’ll talk about them later.” Frank said. Nea shut the water off and turned to face them, their eyes already on her.

“What?” She asked with a shake of her head.

“Uh, let’s get going. I gotta head home anyway, my parents are stingy about the car.” Joey said as he rose from his chair with a stretch. Nea nodded and went to grab her board by the door. She turned when she heard heavy footsteps following her, looking up at the ugly skull tattoo on Frank’s neck before her eyes found his face.

“Stay the fuck away from us.” He growled, his hot breath on her face. “ I don’t care how shitty your home life might be, we don’t want you as a friend.” His eyes lowered to her board then up to her face again, brows dipping in transparent anger. “Did-”

“Frank!” Julie called from the kitchen. “You need to rinse out your bowl.”

“I’ll be there in a sec.” He called over his shoulder, eyes returning to Nea.

“Are you trying to hit on me?” She asked, liking it whenever she could get a rise out of him, remembering the look on his face when she lifted her skirt in the back seat of Joey’s car. As if she wouldn’t wear shorts while skating.

He raised a hand and put in on the door by her head, leaning over her. “If you think you can squirm your way into our group, you’re wrong. And if you try, I’ll kill you.”

“I’m liking where this is going.” Nea smiled. “But you’re going to have to do better than that to scare me. Nothing scares me. Not even feral dogs like you.”

“Frank!” Julie called him again. His lips pulled back into a snarl as he turned away from her and went back into the kitchen. A few moments later Joey came out with Susie trailing behind him and then Frank.

“Ready?” He asked all of them. Susie gave a nod and Frank didn’t say anything in response to that.

“As ready as I can be.” Nea said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nea loves making bold statements wherever she goes and who ever she talks to, the impression she leaves behind has to be a powerful one. What do you guys think of her?


	6. Never-Sleep Pills

Clive wasn’t at home that night which meant he went to the bar for drinks. Good. Means he would be slobbering drunk by the time he came back, probably passed out in his chair. Frank locked his bedroom door, grabbed his leather jacket and mask before sneaking out his window and hopping down from the front porch roof before heading out. It was still raining out, making the ground slick and noisy but he was glad there were no street lamps from his house to his current destination. His jacket would help keep the rain off him while he was outside. The town was asleep, most lights were off and everything was quiet aside from some thunder every now and then.

He stuck to the roads for the first part until he got closer to the three bedroom two story house somewhere on the edges of the town. He slipped down the alley between some other houses before he walked around to the back of this house, cautiously looking in through whatever windows weren’t blocked out by curtains. He heard a man from inside talking to someone else and a woman reply, but they weren’t speaking English or French, so he crouched down by a set of stairs that led up to a porch to make sure he wasn’t seen. They were speaking in some weird language that had to have been Swedish as it sounded weird in his ears when he heard it. A light shut off and Frank waited for things to quiet down before using some garbage bins to climb on top of the garage, slowly and quietly stepping up to the window to peer inside.

He saw a room with a few posters for some bands he didn’t recognise hanging up, a large queen mattress in a mattress frame up against the far wall and a wooden dresser with stickers, paintings and carvings on it. On top of it was a small Television that was turned on and on the bed was Nea, a remote in her hand as she flipped through the channels looking for something to watch. He did like the decorations that were up in her room though, a plastic skeleton was tacked up on the ceiling above her bed, some holiday lights were strung around the headboard of her bed but were turned off. The only light in the room was from the TV and a small table lamp That had a purple flower crown resting on the shade.

Nea was fiddling with the laces to her combat boots before she took them off and threw them haphazardly into her closet that looked like it was vomiting clothes. Frank kept quiet as he sat out and waited for her to go to sleep so he could pry the window open. He had to find that weird rainbow colored coat he saw just to confirm his suspicions, then the others would understand not to trust her if she was the one that nearly set them on fire the other night. He pulled his knife out from his coat and ran his thumb over the blade. If it was her, he was going to have a field day, keeping the promise he made to not let whoever tagged the station forget what the bottom of his shoe looked like. He turned back around to look through the window again between the blinds, watching as she pulled off her pink sweater and threw it on the floor. His eyes narrowed when she grabbed another shirt that was on the floor to wipe her lipstick and eyeliner off. 

What a slob, He thought to himself, though he probably would be too if he had more than a mattress and a few changes of clothes in his room.

Nea started undoing the white collared button up shirt she had on, leaving her completely topless. He felt his cheeks start to warm up from seeing her half naked so he looked away again, staring at his knife. But a part of him wanted to look. He hoped she was putting some clothes on by the time he peered through her window again, only to see her unzipping the back of her skirt and dropping it to her ankles. She was wearing a pair of black shorts under her skirt of course, but those soon came off too until all she was wearing was a lacy purple thong and black nail polish.

Frank licked his lips as she pushed them down over her hips, tossing them into a corner with her foot as she grabbed a clean shirt from one of her drawers, pulling it on over her head before flopping onto her bed to watch more TV. He silently let his gaze wander over her bare legs and rear that was barely covered by the shirt. There was a moment he started to daydream about fucking what was between them before he caught himself, pulling his mind from that place. What the fuck was wrong with him?

He turned away from the window, picking at his nails with the point of his knife for a while before he noticed the light disappear from her room. He waited a bit longer, his heart starting to beat a little harder from the anticipation of trespassing, keeping his thoughts busy with finding out of this was the person he was after.

Finally the time came. He shoved the tip of his blade in between the wood and pushed up and slowly as he could, feeling the window slide open without a sound. He glanced in the dark room, not seeing any movement so he continued, slipping his wet fingers under the window and lifting it up enough for him to climb through. Once inside, he shut the window and looked around, seeing Nea asleep on her bed. Some music was playing on a low volume from a small CD player next to the TV on the dresser. Frank put his knife back into his coat and started rummaging around the floor for that colored jacket he saw, pushing the clothes aside. He stopped moving when he heard her sigh from the bed and roll over onto her side. Frank peeked up at her to make sure she was still sleeping and nearly groaned from getting a full view of her ass. He forced himself to look away back to the task at hand. Coat. Rainbow coat, he told himself repeatedly. It wasn’t on the floor so the closet maybe? He crept his way there and started looking through the stuff that was hanging up first. Not there. Goddamnit. Drawers then. He started with the top left hand drawer, opening it to find her underwear, bras and socks thrown in. He closed that quickly and went one drawer down, finding nothing but shirts. He closed it up and opened the bottom left one, seeing pants and shorts. He checked the other drawers, opening the last one and almost gasping the coat being right on tip. It was the same coat he saw the other night, splattered orange and blue designs all over it. He picked it up out of the drawer, thumbing over the fabric as he felt a smile form on his face.

The light clicked on and Frank froze.

Shit.

“Find what you were looking for,  _ Frank _ ?” Nea asked in a low voice.

Frank clenched the coat in on fist pulling his knife from his coat as he turned his head to look at her. She was pointing a gun at the back of his head, blue eyes trained on him. He kept her from seeing his knife as he tossed the colorful garment to the side. She narrowed her eyes.

“So it was you.” He said, stepping away from her dresser. “You threw that Molotov cocktail at us, you tagged the station and now you’re gonna kill me? Vandalism, arson and murder.”

“I will if you don’t give me a choice.” Nea said. “We haven’t even known each other for 24 hours and here you are, snooping through my clothes like a creep.”

“You really should have stayed asleep.” He said, turning the knife around in his hands to the blade was facing his wrist.

“I was never asleep. And you’re not very good at being stealthy. You can leave now and I’ll forget this happened.”

“Hmmm. You gonna shoot me then?”

“It would be self defense. A creep stalking one of his classmates, breaking into her house and going through her clothes? No one wouldn’t believe-” Frank spun around, slapping the gun from her hand and grabbing her by the throat as he slammed her backwards against a wall, knife pointed by her face.

“You don’t scare me. If anything you make me very fucking livid.” He snarled from behind his mask. “I think it would be in your best interest if you don’t fuck with us.” He brought the knife down to her neck. Those blue eyes looked at him with surprise but not an ounce of fear in them. She pushed her neck against the sharp part of the knife until it drew blood and ran down to her shoulder.

“If you’re going to threaten me with a knife… Make sure you cut me at least a little.” She murmured to him. He pulled his knife away from her, glad she couldn’t see the confusion on his face.

“I could kill you.” He growled.

“Anything could kill me. A fall from my board could kill me. But living on the edge of death is what makes me feel alive, Frank.” She said then reached up with one hand and pulled off his mask. “You can’t scare me.”

He glared at her. “We’ll see how scary I can be if you don’t step the fuck back.”

“So what was your plan exactly? Come in here, look through my clothes then what?”

“I was looking for proof that it was you.” He said. “And I found it.”

“So you found it, were you going to show it to your friends? Wouldn’t they ask how you got it? You know to be honest, I wasn’t trying to hit you with that Molotov. I just have a thing for fire and watching government buildings burn.”

“So what are you saying? You were gonna burn the police station down to the fucking ground if we weren’t standing there?” Frank asked. A grin spread across her face. “Holy shit,” he released her throat with a scoff. “Really?”

“If you’re going to commit crimes, might as well go big or go to hell trying.”


	7. Susie's Mixtape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Legion and the Urban Artist have a night to themselves at the Lodge

He tapped his fingers on the desk in front of him, the eraser end of a pencil pressing against the corner of Frank’s mouth as he stared at the paper in front of him pretending to think very hard about the printed contents when in actuality he couldn’t get his mind off of Nea. He hated her, loathed her presence even but he admired her at the same time. Fearless, something she described to him as being an adrenaline junky. She craved the danger of getting caught and facing consequences is what she said, but she had never been caught. Not even when she torched an entire abandoned building back in Sweden.

“Probably because it was abandoned, no one cared about it.” Frank had said to her.

“It was an old Asylum kind of out of the way, but it is still a serious offense where I come from.” She shrugged. “The asylum was just rotting away and it wasn’t a particular year where there was a fire ban. Not likely that I would have backed down from the dare even if there was.” She laughed.

“Frank!” The dark skinned girl sitting across the counter pulled him from his thoughts. He looked up at her, blinking in realization he had zoned out. “Did you hear anything I said?”

“Erh, no. Sorry.” He blurted out quickly.

Claudette sighed softly and tried not to show that her patience was running thin. “Mr. Collins asked me to tutor you after school because he wants to keep you on the basketball team, Frank.” She had a thicker french accent than he did and it was always nice to listen to. At least better than Nea’s accent. Goddamnit, why did everything have to somehow lead back to her? He realized he was making a face then quickly changed it so Claudette wouldn’t think he was making it at her.

“Yeah I got it, uh can you tell me again?”

She looked down at the paper she was holding in front of her and read off a question. “ ‘Sodium Hydroxide is a strong base. What is the pH of a 0.02M Sodium Hydroxide solution?’ ”

Frank took a deep breath. “Uh 4.” He said with a nod, shifting in his seat.

Claudette stared at him in disbelief. “The answers are multiple choice on your paper, Frank.”

“Oh shit,” He looked down at his own blank paper to see that four was not an answer in the options he was given. “2.0.”

“2.0 is going to be your GPA if you don’t pay attention.” She said firmly to him which only served to make him groan. “If it is a strong solution it would sense that it is over a 7.”

It was a good thing the door opened when it did because Frank was about to curse the very existence of this class being mandatory. He excelled at Anatomy, but Chemistry had too many letters put into math equations and it made his head spin whenever he looked at the work. Susie and Nea entered the room, speaking loudly to one another and laughing about something and he looked over at them as Nea was showing Susie some artwork. He guessed that the two came from After School Art Studies, or ASAS as it was often shortened to but he didn’t like how friendly Nea had been towards his Legion for the past week. The two girls stopped laughing when they realized Frank was watching them and Susie cleared her throat, looking down at her shoes.

“Susie told me you would be in here,” Nea said to him. Her short hair was a deep blue color now.

“I see,” Frank nodded then looked at the pink haired girl. “Don’t forget all of us are going up to our place tonight.” He said to her.

“I know,” her response was quiet and timid.

“Ooh, can I come?” Nea asked with a bright smile behind her dark makeup.

“We’re trying to study,” Claudette said politely to them. “If you guys wouldn’t mind waiting-”

“Study time’s over.” Frank interrupted her, slamming his text book closed, walking over to grab Nea’s wrist, fuming with irritation. “Susie, we’ll be right back.” He said as he dragged the Swede out of the class. He waited until the door was shut to give Nea a shove.

“What the fuck, Frank?” She said as she backed up but never lost her balance. She adjusted her blue sweater and glared at him.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” He spat out the words. “Just because you and I got along once doesn’t mean you’re in my friend group now and I intend on keeping it that way.”

“Oh how fucking cute, are you really that insecure to think you own three other human beings?  _ Je _ ust because you and I aren’t friends doesn’t mean I don’t get along with  _ Je _ oey and Susie.” She adjusted the bag on her back which had her skateboard strapped to it at the moment. Why was her accent so thick all of a sudden?

“You can be friends with them, but you aren’t part of our group and you aren’t coming with us.” He declared.

“I wasn’t asking you if I could go with, I was asking Susie.” She took a step towards him and he thought she was going to slap him or something. Not that it would have mattered in the long run, he wasn’t afraid of whatever she could try to do. He towered above her, lowering his eyebrows.

“Our place is not for you, it’s for  _ us _ . And you aren’t one of us.” He whispered, pushing her back against the lockers. “So no, you can’t come with-”

“Step the fuck off Frank, your breath smells.” She pushed passed him and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine, you don’t want me to come with you guys, I understand. But I would imagine it gets boring wherever  _ your _ place is when you don’t have a party pack.”

“The fuck is a party pack?” He asked, curious but cautious.

“Guess you’ll never find out and if you don’t know what one is already then I would think that it does get boring wherever you hang out.” She shrugged and turned to the side. Fuck, she was just as persuasive with words as she was ruthless.

“You think that by having a ‘whatever’ pack you can deceive your way into coming with us?” He asked, then shook his head. “Go fuck yourself.”

Frank took a step towards the classroom door to grab his stuff from where he left it until she spoke fast to him. “Have you ever smoked weed?” He hesitated but looked over his shoulder at her, hating that smug smile as he knew that she knew she caught him in her trap.

* * *

Salt. That’s all he could taste in his mouth as he sat in the front seat of Joey’s car and listened to Joey tell Nea all about the lodge and how they found it and that they usually come up here on weekends to hang out or get away from everything. She listened to him while asking a few questions here and there and sometimes Julie or Susie would cut in with answers. He just wanted her here for the weed and that was it. If she was willing to share it with them for free he wasn’t about to say no to an offer like that.

The roads were muddy and slick which made the travel time a bit longer, but Joey was a good driver and this was a road he had taken many times before. The night was going to be cold so Julie made sure to bring a lot of blankets where as Joey picked up some firewood from his job. Frank hoped that the patched hole in the roof had somewhat helped keep the interior of the lodge dry from the rains they had gotten over the week. It was a project he and Joey had worked on for weeks over the summer with the help of Julie’s father occasionally pitching in some money for the materials they needed and lending them his tools. The place had mostly been patched up aside from the lobby area where there was a lot of glass doors and windows. They didn’t need that area anyway, it would have been too expensive to patch up. The biggest problem was the tractor that some dumb fuck must have driven though a wall at one point many years ago while the place was undergoing renovations. Maybe the owners just gave up on the place after that mishap.

Joey pulled the car up close to the main doors they used so they could unload the car quicker without getting too wet from the rain. Susie was the first to head inside with Julie’s little stereo so she could slap in her mixtape and hit play. The fast snare beat of a-ha’s “Take on Me” started playing as the other four started unloading the car of their stuff, bringing in the blankets, food and fire wood. Their clothes had all been stuffed inside their backpacks that they threw into a corner while the car was being emptied. Julie grabbed the box of food and snacks while Frank and Joey grabbed as many rolls of firewood they could carry at once so they had something to burn in the fireplace. Nea grabbed the blankets and sleeping bags and all of them watched as Susie danced around in an open spot of the lodge.

“Are you having fun Suze?” Joey asked after chuckling with a shake of his head.

“Of course!” She said sticking her tongue out at him. “I always have fun when it’s just us here.”

“It’s not just us here,” Frank grumbled as he flopped onto one of the sofas from setting the fire wood down. If the others had heard him, they ignored him so he silently opened a bottle of booze and chugged it. Julie got started on lighting the fire, “Blitzkrieg Bop” playing from the stereo now. Joey was head banging while Susie was hopping up and down on a chair like it was a trampoline and lip singing to the words. Nea was pulling some things out from her bag and setting them on a little wooden table that was normally reserved for their booze and pizza. There was a lighter, a glass pipe, a bag of bud and a safety pin sitting there. Nea grabbed the bud and pipe, packing the bowl full before looking up at Frank. 

“Want to cash?” She asked, handing him the pipe and lighter. Frank raised a brow but made no move to take the pipe.

“Imma finish my beer first,” He grumbled, looking away from her. When was he going to get a chance to tell the others it was Nea giving them all these problems?

“Mmm, suit yourself. Julie, do you want to cash?” Julie looked up at Nea and gave a hesitant smile.

“Uh yeah… I have never smoked before.” She admitted nervously, walking over to sit next to Nea on the love seat.

“That’s okay, just take a small hit. I’ll show you how,” Nea brought the pipe up to her face. “You hold it like this with your thumb here and put the lighter up to the bowl like this-” She demonstrated. “Only hold it for a second then inhale.”

Julie watched as she did it first, blowing the smoke up towards the ceiling before handing her the pipe and lighter.

“Okay, I think I got it.” Julie took the pipe and lighter, mimicking the movements Nea had before a coughing fit took hold of her. The blond gagged, handing the things back to the Swede and making a face. Frank laughed at the spectacle, enjoying the disgusted expression before taking another swig of his booze. Joey opened a bottle for himself and plopped down by the fire to drink it.

“It’s good right?” Nea asked Julie after she had regained her breath, taking a hit for herself.

“Good isn’t the word I would have used,” Julie croaked. The odor was a sweet, yet pungent one and it clung to them like a bad perfume.

“Can I try…?” Susie asked in a small voice. Nea gave her a big smile and patted the cushion next to her.

“Of course, I brought this for all of us.” She said. Susie got off the chair and plopped herself next to Nea, taking the pipe and lighting up. Susie didn’t cough though, which had Frank surprised.

“Took it like a champ!” Joey said, raising his bottle in the air as if to celebrate.

“I’ve smoked a little before,” She admitted with a sly smile. “And yeah that is really good Nea.”

Nea nodded once. “Thank you. It was the last I could get from the dispensary in Sweden before I moved here.”

Frank chugged the rest of his drink and leaned forward, holding his hand out, silently asking for the pipe now. Susie handed it to him and he took a hit.

It burned his throat and smelled real bad, the smoke heavy in his lungs as he inhaled. He held it for only a moment before blowing it out, his throat itching with coughs but he held them back, clearing his throat and passing the pipe back to Nea.

He grabbed another beer and cracked it open, taking a long drink to alleviate the tickle with carbonation.

“Alright, my turn.” Joey held his hand out for the pipe. Nea leaned forward and handed it to him as Julie got up to grab her blankets and start laying them out.

“Hoooleeeeee sheht!” Joey sputtered between coughs after his hit. “Fucking lit....”

Nea laughed and took the pipe back, using the safety pin to fuss with the bowl. “You guys feel it yet?”

“Feel what?” Frank asked. “I think this watered down beer is hitting me harder than that stuff.”

“Do you want another one?” Nea asked him, those blue eyes staring straight into his soul, daring him as she offered the pipe.

“You first,” he said. She shrugged and took a long inhale before passing it to him. Watching this made his throat hurt even more. How could she do that? He accepted it and took another hit himself, immediately taking another long drink after exhaling to stifle the coughing fit. Julie flopped onto her make-shift bed and sighed.

“Joeeeyyy…” She grumbled. “Make dinner now.”

“Already? We just got here.” He said looking over his shoulder at her on the blankets.

“Aaahhh yes, the munchies.” Nea said, leaning back in the loveseat, one arm around Susie’s shoulders. “Might want to get started on the food before we all start complaining.”

“Fine fine, I’ll get on it.” He got to his feet and rummaged through their food, pulling out the hot dogs to make them all dinner.

The smell of the hotdogs over the fire was even better than Frank remembered. Gods he was so hungry. He was always hungry, his pure rage burned right through the calories he consumed. It was always a guessing game if he was going to eat when he was at Clive’s place. Thank God for Julie’s mom and her cooking, holy fuck. He let his head fall back against the chair and he stared up at the ceiling, looking at the patch work he and Joey had done to the roof and noticing little spots they missed here and there. This weekend they would have to fix those… It shouldn’t be too much of a problem if they could find scraps of wood lying around. Hmmm what did this place look like when it was new and first built? It must have been a good tourist spot back in its day, having one of the only ski lifts for its time. A shame there weren’t more rooms. The wrap around balcony in the front was super nice and the view from it was good. You could see down the entire mountain for miles. This place made him feel so relaxed as if he were meant to be here. Like something was calling out for him to stay. Being in the wilderness made him feel wild and his blood ran hot.

Wild. Exciting. The thrill of the chase… He enjoyed being an entity no one could figure out. Just when his friends think they had done it, he would change up his attitude to keep them on their toes. Nea did that for him. He was always on his toes around her, he could have been a ballet dancer at this point. She excited him and kept him guessing.

Frank raised his head when he felt someone patting his leg. Nea’s face came into his view, those deadly blue eyes looking back at him and pouty lips moving for sounds to come out.

“Huh?” He asked again to try and make some sense of what she was saying.

“Are you okay? You haven’t moved in a minute.” She said again.

“Uh-huh…” He grumbled, taking a deep breath and looking around. Joey and Susie were passed out in their sleeping bags, Julie was stoking the fire with the designated stick they used and Nea was holding two hotdogs on a paper plate. She handed him the food.

“Sit up and eat these.” She said, also handing him a water bottle.

“How long was I out for?” He asked sitting up and looking at the food.

“About an hour,” Julie said with a yawn.

“Go get some sleep Juliet,” Nea said using a soft voice.

“I am, good night Romeo.” She nodded and scooted to her blankets, laying down and curling up underneath them to get some rest. Frank picked up the first hot dog and scarfed it down. It wasn’t hot, but it wasn’t cold either. Wait a second… Romeo? Juliet? Frank looked at Nea as she got up and grabbed a soda, his mouth full of food. He chewed as he watched her bend over to grab it out of the back, getting a glimpse at her bright blue panties. He hummed tastefully and she turned around with a raised brow. Frank stopped chewing and looked at her face. Oh god, did she know he was looking at her? Fuckfuckfuckfuck-

“Are you feeling okay? You just kind of died in your chair.” She said. Okay she didn’t know…

Frank nodded and swallowed down the bite of his food before chugging water. It was then he realized his mouth felt like the Sahara desert with a touch of ketchup.

“Good, we were worried for a second.” She opened the soda and took a drink as he went in for his next bite and before he knew it, the food was gone. He tossed his plate in the trash and stood up to stretch.

“Wanna see something cool?” He offered to her. She looked over at him and nodded. “Come with me.” He motioned for her to follow him up the stairs, walking noiselessly around his friends to not disturb them from their slumber. They snuck out to the balcony through a broken window to peer out at the nightscape of the wilderness they were surrounded by. The moon light was bright tonight as it dipped out from behind the clouds. Nea stepped up to the balcony, placing her hands on the railing as she took in the sight without a word.

“Oh wow…” She breathed.

“I know right.” He mumbled, still groggy from his surprise nap. He leaned on a pillar and looked out himself. The air was cold and fresh from the recent rain.

“This place is amazing. Have you ever thought about fixing that tower?” She asked.

“Yeah we have, but it leans too far to the side and we don’t have a way to get up there.” He said crossing his arms over his chest to protect his hands from the chill of the night.

“Hmm that sucks,” She murmured. “I was just thinking it might be easier to keep warm in there rather than here since it appears smaller.”

Frank yawned. “Yeah we tried but we don’t want it falling on us. Why did she call you Romeo?”

“Huh? Oh that,” She chuckled and shook her head, explaining it to him. “While you were passed out snoring like a pig we were making fun of Ms. Diaz’s reading in class.”

“God that book suuuuucks.” Frank groaned, feeling a smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

“It really does.” She said then shivered.

“You cold?” He asked.

“I’m standing up in a ski lodge with a skirt and a sweater on…” She grumbled. “Would that make you cold?”

“Probably,” He admitted. She continued looking at him like she wanted something from him. “What?”

“Are you going to offer me your jacket?” She asked.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is my favorite jacket.” He said then slid down the pillar until he was sitting. “It’s the best thing I ever shoplifted.”

“You shoplifted that?” She asked with a smile, sitting down next to him.

“I couldn’t afford an $80 jacket in foster care.” He said in a tone as if it were obvious.

“You were in Foster care?”

“Yeah? If you can call it care. Now it’s just me and my foster retard, Clive. I don’t honestly know how he was able to take me in with how much he drinks, the system just might be that fucked up.”

“So you live with your foster retard and he drinks… Just like you. Perfect role model. Now I no longer wonder where you got your breaking and entering skills from.” They both laughed at that.

“If Clive isn’t at home slobbering drunk, then he’s at the bar slobbering drunk, it’s like his constant state of being.” Frank said, a fist tightening. “I hate this place…”

Nea was quiet for a long time, Frank almost thought he would doze off again if his eyes closed.

“Why don’t we burn the bar down?” She suggested. Frank turned his head to look at her.

“What do you mean…?” He asked, cautious yet curious.

“Burn the fucker down. Ruin his night a little bit. Possibly kill him.” She shrugged.

“And go back into the system? No way, I’m too old for that shit.”

“I don’t think they would take you back, you are too old.” She hummed and the air fell silent. There was a gentle breeze that swayed the branches of the trees around them.

“Let’s do it,” Frank said after a long time, his eyes feeling heavy.

Nea smiled and climbed into his lap, placing her hands on his shoulders as she looked at his face. She ran a thumb over the scar on his upper lip, her touch soothing and furthering to put him to sleep.

“Mmm that feels nice…” He mumbled. Her lips pressed against his and Frank found himself kissing her back. Nea’s mouth tasted sweet and felt warm as their tongues had a furious game of tonsil hockey. He wrapped his arms around her, fingers running through her short hair as she started to work his jacket off.

They spun around so Frank could lay on his back with her straddling him, fingers working feverishly to shed some of his layers. He reached up and groped her as she did, feeling her breast in his hand over her sweater. Once his jacket had been opened to expose his t-shirt, she leaned forward for their lips to meet once more, their chests pressed flush against each other. Frank huffed against her mouth, feeling his arms get heavier before his mind went completely black and sleep took its hold on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait on this! Life got in the way and this project fell on the back burner for the time being. Thank you guys for your understanding. What do you think of this chapter?


	8. Etched Ruler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Legion go to their favorite Pizza join on the edge of town to celebrate what feels like a victory, Frank asks Nea about their time spent together at the lodge.

Joey and Julie teased him relentlessly the entire weekend about him falling asleep on the balcony with his jacket wide open and the front of his pants undone. Frank just shrugged off their incessant teasing, wondering when Nea had undone those but he didn’t say anything about it for now. He was waiting outside the basketball coach’s room to get word on who had been accepted to the team, his friends had dipped as soon as school had let out, Joey claiming to have work, Susie complaining about period cramps and Julie needing to go to the city to buy herself a new pair of skates. So Frank was left alone with his wandering thoughts. Did he and Nea have sex? He couldn’t remember and that made him uneasy but he couldn’t be sure because when he woke up, Nea was asleep in his chair. Where was she anyway? He hadn’t seen her since English class.

Coach Miller stepped out of his room into the hall where Frank and a few other tryouts were waiting to hear the news. He looked over the rim of his glasses at the boys.

“Well boys, you all did super well. Niko Diaz, Timothy Walker, Spencer Green, Frank Morrison, Derek Turner, Cameron Mitchel, Sean Campbell, John Carter, I’m sorry to say that you have made it to the team, see you all after school tomorrow for practice.” The coach read off his paper then looked up at the boys. Frank felt his heart leap into his throat when he heard he had been accepted to the team, giving his mates fistbumps and laughing enthusiactically. He grabbed his bag and walked down the hall, a wide smile on his face as he walked to the office to wait for Clive to pick him up but when he got there he saw his four friends waiting, Susie holding a rather large box.

“Surprise!” They all said together.

“What is this?” Frank asked as they all walked over to him. “It’s not my birthday.”

Julie slapped his shoulder. “We know it’s not your birthday, stupid.”

Susie handed him the box and bounced excitedly. He laughed and looked at all of them. “This isn’t some joke, is it?”

“Open the damn box, Frank.” Julie sighed, but she was smiling.

“Okay okay! Jeeze,” He pulled the bow to the box undone and opened it, looking at a brand new shiny red varsity jacket with his favorite number, 43, on the hood. “Holy fuck guys…” He breathed, using one hand to hold the box as he felt the material of the jacket with the other. “This is incredible, thank you guys!”

“We all saved up for it.” Susie told him. “It’s not a class ring, but we thought you might like this better anyway.”

“Fuck class rings, this is amazing!” He set the box down and pulled the jacket out, looking at the school mascot on the back.

“Fairview’s Spartans would have a harder time without you on the basketball team. Someone has to make us famous.” Joey said. Frank gave him a crooked smile as he tried on the jacket. If they were going to be famous it definitely wouldn’t be because of the basketball team. The jacket fit him perfectly and even had his first initial on the front.

He looked around for Nea, seeing her standing a few steps away and watching them. “How do I look?”

Nea took a moment to scan his visage. “Like you still garble bags of dicks.” She commented.

“Piss off, Karlsson,” He smiled and looked down at himself. “This is great!”

“Fuck you too, Morrison.” Nea responded in kind.

“Do you guys wanna go get some pizza?” Susie asked them.

“Hell yeah,” Joey said. “We gotta celebrate this lug head over here making the fuckin team!” He grabbed Frank and gave him a noogie, messing up his already messy black hair.

* * *

The pizza place was mostly empty but it was a cozy little restaurant and the perfect place for the five of them to vibe without anyone bothering them.

“So what happened? Why did you fall asleep on the balcony and not in your chair?” Julie asked him, chewing a bite of her pepperoni pizza.

“With your pants down no less,” Joey commented.

“My pants were not down, you fuck head.” Frank said which made the others laugh. “They were just undone.

“Maybe he went up there to-” Julie made a motion with her hand under the table. They all giggled and Frank felt his ears go red from embarrassment. He glanced at Nea who was laughing along with them as if she wasn’t the reason he was out there.

“I did not go up there to jerk off, Jules.” Frank said, turning his gaze to her. “I just went up there to enjoy the night and I fell asleep.”

“I can’t fathom how you didn’t catch a cold.” Julie took another bite of pizza.

“I just have a strong immune system I guess. Comes with the job of putting up with you shits.” He shrugged.

“Oh okay, I see. More likely we put up with you than the other way around.” Joey snickered.

“I’m gonna go have a smoke,” Nea said, rising from the booth seat. She pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her bag.

“Mmm, I’m coming too.” Frank said and squeezed over Joey to get out.

“Careful Franky, someone might see your homo.” Joey giggled.

“Only for you baby,” Frank commented as he followed Nea out, giving him kissy faces as he went. Joey batted his eyelashes at him. Frank stepped out into the night, shuffling over to where Nea was standing, lighting a cigarette in her hands. She was wearing her own red leather jacket and a pair of jeans with sneakers.

“What happened over the weekend?” He asked. She looked up at him as she took a drag.

“At the lodge?” She asked before exhaling the smoke.

“That night… What happened between us exactly?” He shoved his hands in his pockets.

“I’m guessing you were too crossfaded to remember,” Nea looked out at the parking lot. “We went up there and spoke for a little bit, you told me about your foster retard and we made plans to go burn the bar down. Do you still want to do that?”

“Okay, I follow on that part, what I’m not understanding is how my pants got undone.” He said.

“I undid them while I was on your lap.” She took another drag.

“Okay… So why didn’t you tell them that?”

“Because it’s funnier to let their minds wander. Fiction is better than truth.”

Frank stood there for a moment before holding his hands out for her pack. She reached into her pocket and handed it to him.

“Did we have sex?” He asked, lighting his own cigarette. She shook her head.

“No, you fell asleep so I went downstairs to sleep as well. Why? Were you afraid we had or were you hoping we had? Not that you would have remembered it anyway.” She gave a half smile.

“I was just wondering is all.” He said. “Maybe we can sometime?”

“Maybe… If you don’t fall asleep again.” She lightly teased him by nudging his arm.

“Maybe you were just so boring that I fell asleep.” Frank shrugged with a smile playing on his lips.

“Oh honey no. I’m not boring.”

They stood there smoking their cigarettes while a comfortable silence ensued between them. Nea tossed her butt onto the ground, smashing it into the dirt with the heel of her sneakers. She faced Frank and brought a hand up to his face as he went to take a drag, her thumb running over the scar on his lip.

He pulled the fag from between his lips and looked over at her.

“Yes,” He answered.

“What?”

“Yes I still want to burn the bar down,” He answered again, making sure no one was around to hear them.

“Oh, when?” She asked, her hand dropping back down to her side.

“Tonight.”


	9. Urban Evasion

Nea met up with Frank on the corner of Main and Winchester, only two blocks away from the bar Frank hated so much because of his “foster retard” as he so kindly put it. She was wearing her favorite outfit that she normally wore for times like this, her bag full of cocktails and spray paint, mask dangled in her hand down at her side. Frank was wearing his usual get up and mask when he came into view, the one with the big disturbing smile painted onto it. He walked up to her and looked around.

“There’s cops all over the place,” he mumbled to her. “Should we not do this tonight?”

“There is no better time to do this, Frank. Are you going to pussy out like a little bitch?” She put on her mask. “I can do it without you.”

“Hell no, I want to see this fucker burn. I just don’t want to run into any trouble while we do.” He said cooly.

“Trouble is the best part.” She nodded and motioned for him to lead the way to the bar. They snuck down the alleyways, weaving around dumpsters and over trash cans. Frank dipped over to a car parked on the side of the road and pointed across the street.

“There,” he said to Nea as she peered over the car to see the structure.

“That’s it?”

“Yeah that’s it.”

“Okay let’s go.” She crossed the street without a sound, staying low to the ground and out of the street lights. Frank watched her go then crossed after a few seconds, but he refused to crouch. He wasn’t scared, not like anyone was out, he would have known. It was like an instinct he had, to know if there were people nearby within a certain distance. Nea crept around behind the building and then jumped over a wall and out of sight, reflexes like a cat. She was in what appeared to be the back of the bar, and she was looking for the power box or something she could mess with to use as a distraction from what they were about to do. The power box had a master lock on it. Knulla… She pulled her bag off her back to search for her bolt cutters as Frank scrambled over the wall, huffing in irritation as he made it up. She glanced at him then went to cut the lock off, opening the box after the deed had been done. She looked at the breakers and tilted her head to the side to read the labels.

“Frank, come here.” She waved him over and he came like a good dog.

“What is it?” He said looking in the box as well.

“These two here need to switched off and once they are switched off, I’ll throw the cocktails-”

“No,” He said. “I want to throw the Molotov cocktails.” Nea narrowed her eyes.

“Where are you going to throw them?”

“On the side of the building. The side facing away from the street. Then we can make our way back around through the parking lot. Anyone looking will think to look down the alley.”

“Okay fine.” She handed him her bag. “You know that alley you chased me down the night you covered my tag?”

“How can I forget?” He grumbled behind his mask as he took the bag, paint and bottles rattling a little.

“Good, we’ll run there.” She said.

“You sure you aren’t going to skate there and leave me to dry?”

“Are you afraid of getting caught?”

“No. But if I do get caught, I'm dragging you with me.”

“Fair, honestly. What are you still doing here? When I turn off the lights, wait 15 seconds then throw the bottles.”

“Why 15 seconds?” He asked, shouldering the bag.

“It will confuse the staff and they’ll come out here to check the breakers. Plus it will give me time to hide.”

“Are you afraid of getting caught?” He mocked her.

“Never. Now go.” She waved him off. Frank climbed up the dumpster and over the fence. She waited for a few moments to give him time to ready the bottles and light them before flipping the switches and replacing the lock on the box. She ducked behind some empty whiskey boxes and waited. The lock on the backdoor clicked and the door swung open with a grumbling man exiting the building. That’s when the sound of glass breaking and a small explosion erupted on the side of the building. The man shouted in surprise and ran back through the door. That’s when Nea hopped over the wall and ran through the parking lot, adrenaline racing through her veins when there was another cocktail thrown. Son of a bitch is going to get caught, she thought, crossing the street to wait. Frank was only a few seconds behind her and when she saw him she ducked behind a newspaper stand. He slid next to her and watched as the building caught fire and started burning. Nea watched the flames rise into the night sky, heart pumping when sirens from the fire house started up. Frank tugged on her sleeve and she looked up at him.

“Lets go,” He urged.

“No, watch.” She said and looked back at the building. Frank watched as the fire trucks arrived on scene, panicking people fleeing through the front entrance and running for their vehicles or collapsing on the pavement, coughing. Nea looked up at Frank who was staring at the scene from behind that happy smiling mask with a certain intensity. He was watching for someone, probably hoping to see his foster father. More sirens started up from the police station up the road.

“Okay we need to go.” She said to him. He nodded once but kept watching. Nea grabbed his arm. “We need to go now.”

“Yeah…” Frank mumbled and turned away, following her down the street.

“Hey! You two!” They both heard a raspy voice from across the parking lot. It was the guy that came out back to check the breakers. “Did you two do this?!”

“Fucking run!” Frank said and they both began sprinting down the road. Nea was faster and quieter on her feet than Frank was. She checked over her shoulder to see if they were being pursued before dipping between some buildings, Frank following close on her heels as if he were chasing her down once again. The dumpster that hid her earlier was still there and she quickly ducked behind it with him doing the same, panting to catch their breaths as they waited.

The sirens got louder, two police cars driving down the road and passing them completely. After they were sure they were in the clear, they got up and headed out of town back to her house, silent as they went and checking around them at all times. Once they made it back, Nea walked in through the backdoor and opened it for him and the two went inside, up the stairs to her room. She closed and locked the door, pulling off her mask and turning to smile at him. Frank pushed his mask up and dropped her bag on the ground, his eyes bright with adrenaline as well.

“Holy fuck…” He whispered.

“It’s good, right?” She asked, pulling off her jacket and tossing it into a drawer. She untied her sneakers and tossed them into her closet.

“That was the most fucking fun I have ever had.” He said walking over to her window and looking out at the dark street.

“You must not be having much fun then,” She let out a breathy laugh. She undid her belt and pulled off her pants then removed her shirt. Frank turned around, mouth open like he was going to say something but when he saw her undressing in front of him, he closed it, husky blue eyes quickly looking away.

“Do you have to do that with me in the room?” He asked, chewing on his lower lip. Nea found the way he averted his gaze funny. She knew he had watched her undress before and she also knew he wanted to watch now.

“Do you not want to be in the same room with me anymore? Even after I helped you?” She asked.

“It’s not that, I’m saying why do you have to undress with me standing right here?” He said.

“You can watch.”

Frank’s eyes moved over to her and he looked her up and down, inhaling through his mouth as if trying to taste her in the air. She stepped up to him, grabbing his hand and placing it on her breast. He swallowed hard, chewing his lip again as she felt over the scar on his lip. It was like who ever had been carving him into existence and a tiny slip up and it made him all the more charming. That was her favorite thing about him. His hand squeezed her breast as he leaned down to kiss her.

Nea brought one hand behind his head as his other hand reached around her to grab a fistful of her rear. She brought one leg up around his waist as he opened his mouth to taste her. The hand on her ass moved under her thong, fingers feeling along her wet nether lips. He groaned against her mouth then pulled away, looking at her as he pulled his hands back to start unzipping his jacket. She moved her hands down to his pants to resume where they had left off at the lodge, undoing his belt and tugging his jeans down a little as he tossed his coat onto the floor. She could feel him growing in his pants so she teased him, groping his member with one hand over his pants for a few seconds to hear that deep growly moan. He did not disappoint. Nea got down on her knees in front of him as his head fell back from being touched in this manner, pulling his boxers down in the front to produce his hard length.

He looked down at her, surprise clear on his face. She liked that look on him she realized, as she gave him a few pumps while pressing her lips to his tip. His hands went into her hair, grabbing fistfuls of it with a light grip. She took that as a sign to continue, more of his tip sliding into her mouth as she stroked him. Nea sucked on his head, the taste of his precum on her tongue.

“Ahh fuck…” He gasped when she took more of him into her mouth. She grabbed his hips, urging him to thrust and he did not disappoint. He moaned as his thrusts were steady and rhythmic.

Nea let her jaw go slack to take in his entire length until his head hit the back of her throat. She nearly gagged but told herself to relax. Frank’s grip in her hair tightened, picking up the pace a little as he fucked her face. He tilted her head back and she opened her eyes to look up at him, his cock still deep down her throat. He was looking down at her, those eyes nearly glowing with lust. She pulled away after a few seconds, a string of drool and precum from his tip to her tongue.

“Holy fuck, that was glorious.” He huffed.

“Don’t cum too soon, this is the beginning,” She mumbled as she stood up and pushed her thong down. Frank scrambled to get out of his sneakers so he could pull all the way off, tossing his clothes onto the floor as she climbed onto her bed, making a motion with a finger, beckoning him over. He climbed onto the bed as she opened her legs. He gazed down at her then back up at her face as he lowered himself down between her thighs. She could feel his tongue on her, hot and wet as he lapped her up, arms wrapping around her legs.

Her breath caught in her throat when he suckled on her clit, one hand gripping at the bed sheets and the other in his hair.

“Mmmm, fuck Frank…” She moaned. He looked up at her, that look he was giving her could have made her orgasm right there. That authentic determination shining through like the day he cornered her in Julie’s house. He pulled away and crawled over her until they were nose to nose.

“Why did you stop?” She asked.

He didn’t say anything as a grin spread across his face, leaning down to suck on her neck as his fingers teased her, playing with her clit and circling her entrance before he slid his middle finger inside.

A soft moan escaped her as he pulled his hand back and started to thrust his finger into her.

“I didn’t stop,” He growled in her ear, nibbling on it for a moment before sitting back to get more leverage for his thrusting.

She gripped the pillows behind her head, back arching from the pleasure he was giving her, feeling another finger insert itself in her alongside the first one. Frank was too good at this. She let out another moan, louder this time, more needy. He kept thrusting his hand inside her, listening to her moan like that while taking in the sight of her writhing on the bed beneath him. Her toes curled in and her legs began trembling, breath hitching in her throat as she pushed her head back into the pillows, gasping as her limit was reached and she met her orgasm.

“Frank~!” She cried out, pretty damn loud too.

He pulled his fingers out of her after she had caught her breath and came down from her high, slipping them into his mouth to taste her orgasm for himself, lapping up her taste. She opened her eyes and watched him do this, a smile on her face as he positioned himself between her legs, grabbing his raging hard on so his tip was lined up with her opening. Frank pushed his hips forward until they met hers, gasping from the sensation of her tight, wet folds on his dick as he entered her. He grabbed her hips tightly until she grabbed one wrist, moving his hand onto her throat.

“Do you want me to choke you…?” He asked in a breathy whisper. Nea nodded, looking into his eyes.

Frank pulled his hips back until it was just the tip inside her, his hand closing around her fleshy throat before he started thrusting. Her eyes slid shut, mouth hanging open as he started fucking her. Her nails raked down his back, a startled gasp followed by a moan coming from him. He squeezed his hand even tighter, keeping his hips moving into hers to feel those cat-like claws in his flesh.

Nea wrapped one leg around his waist, grabbing his wrist and spinning until he was on his back and she was on top. He looked at her, startled at first but liking this all the same. She put her hands on his chest as her hips started moving in circles on him. He grabbed her hips feeling the way she stimulated him with just a simple and yet magical motion, keeping his hand on her neck and squeezing. She was silent from her airflow being cut off, but the head rush from being choked was to die for. He pushed his hips upwards into her, admiring the way she bounced on him, releasing her throat to feel her breasts, pinch her nipples. She let out a little high pitch moan when he did, nails leaving bloody crescents in his pectorals.

He growled, enjoying the sensation as he felt a certain tingle in his groin. “Keep going,” He demanded. “Fuck Nea, you’re a goddess…”

“I know,” She whispered to him with a coy smile. “Come for me, Frank…”

The sound of her telling him to cum made him growl again, gripping her hips. “I wanna fuck you against the wall…” He groaned. She stopped moving and for a moment he thought he had spoiled the mood.

“Then do it,” She stated bluntly. He smiled and sat up, grabbing her and getting up off the bed to slam her back against the nearest wall.

Their lips met as her legs locked around his waist and her claws dug into his shoulders. He began panting as he fucked her, her messy hair sticking out in every direction at this point. Frank couldn’t get enough of her, feeling her wet pussy wrap around his dick like a vice sent him into a frenzy and he couldn’t stop fucking her, listening to her moans and gasps, all noises he was causing her to make.

He groaned as he felt himself start to cum, burying his shaft in her as she grabbed his face and kissed him. Frank felt himself throb when their tongues met, his seed inside her now as he held her firmly against the wall.

Nea pulled away from their kiss and looked into his eyes. “We have school in the morning, ya know. It’s already 3am.”

“Is it…” He mumbled and went right back to kissing her, not caring about anything right now. Nea kissed him back as he wrapped his arms around her, carrying her to her bed on buckling knees. They both crawled under the covers and laid down, sleeping being no stranger to either of them as she fell asleep with her head on his chest. He held her close and let out a relaxed sigh, eyes falling shut.

Frank had woken up that morning to the sound of a running shower in the next room over. He groaned and looked around Nea’s room seeing the clock on her night stand that read 10:37am. Oh shit. He was late for school. He didn’t care though, school was on the back burner for today. The coach would have his ass but he didn’t care as he got up out of her bed and walked into the bathroom. Nea was stepping into the water when he came in.

“We slept in…” He commented over the sound of the water.

“Uh-huh,” she said, rinsing off. He looked around her bathroom, just as messy as her room, if not more so. Frank smacked his lips before turning his gaze back to her in the shower behind the glass door.

“Can I join?”

“Yes.”

He felt a smile form on his face as he stepped into the shower with her. The water stung on his back and he made a face. Why the hell was his back stinging? He tried looking over his shoulder to see if he could spot what was bothering him when he remembered that she carved the shit out of his back last night. Nea was pouring shampoo into her hand to lather in her hair so she could get clean. Frank dipped his head under the stream to rinse himself off, but his eyes stayed glued to her. There was a moment where she was just scrubbing her scalp and picking at her chipped nail polish before she looked right at him, those icy blue eyes boring a hole right into his very soul. It made him shudder but the sight of bubbly suds running down her cheek made him laugh.

“What?” She asked. “Why are you staring?”

“Nothing,” He reached over and ran his index finger up her cheek to wipe the bubbles away, stepping out of the stream so she could rinse off. The water droplets on her fair skin glistened like a million diamonds. Frank found himself reaching over to run the backs of his fingers up her belly and between her breasts, watching as goosebumps formed on her flesh where he touched. Nea wiped her face off with her hands, opening her eyes to look at him.

“You should be getting clean,” She mumbled. “You can use my soap.”

“Erh, yeah.” He pulled his hand back and turned to grab her shampoo, squeezing it into his hand so he could wash his own hair. His stomach twisted all up in knots when he wasn’t looking at her, the irrational fear that she was just going to vanish if he didn’t keep her in his sights was ever present and that made him feel weird. She isn’t a ghost, he told himself. Why did he think she was going to disappear? What was this foreign feeling he had that made him scared of losing her? He was thinking so hard he almost didn’t notice Nea’s fingers trailing over the stinging parts of his back.

“How do they look?” He asked over his shoulder.

“Like you still garble bags of dicks but red.”

Frank laughed at that then stepped under the water to rinse off, making sure to wash out all the soap before stepping out of the shower.

“There’s towels under the sink.” She said as she massaged the conditioner into her hair. He walked over and grabbed a towel for himself, drying off.

“Ah fuck, I don’t have a change of clothes.” He grumbled.

“I have cologne you can use, you’ll just have to wear the stuff from last night.” She said. “I suppose.” He left the bathroom and went to put on his clothes from last night. It wasn’t too big of a deal, he had worn the same pair of clothes for a day or two before. After he had dressed himself the shower shut off which meant that Nea was out and getting dressed herself. He waited in her room, looking at her posters that decorated the walls of her bedroom. Nirvana, Blink 182, Korn. Bands he knew and liked, then there were bands he didn’t recognize.

Nea came out of the bathroom wearing a tan sweater and a red plaid mini skirt with long black socks that went up to her thighs. Holy shit, she was looking like a whole snack and dessert he could devour right now. ‘You can watch’ her words echoed in his head.

“I want to,” He mumbled out loud, suddenly realizing she could hear him. “Uh… Get some breakfast.” He added before she could question him.

She narrowed her eyes, having a feeling that wasn’t what he was actually meaning but didn’t question him. The dreamy look in his eyes explained it all.

“Let’s get lunch. That is… If you want to? Unless you want to stay here and uh… Ya know, get lunch.” Her fingers toyed with the edges of her skirt.

Frank let out a breathy laugh. “You want to go again?” he asked, feeling his cock start to stiffen in his pants.

“I know what’s good.”

“So you’re saying I’m good?”

Nea rolled her eyes and turned away from him to grab her boots. “Don’t let it go to your head Franky, you’ll spoil the mood.”

At her sudden loss of interest in him he felt silly standing there with his dick half erect. He turned away from her so she couldn’t see him calm down and regain some semblance of self control. Gods, she had to be in control in every situation and it mildly irritated him. How did she do it? Frank didn’t like how she was able to take a situation and turn it to her favor. She was friends with him and his Legion, was she part of them now? He didn’t even know at this point. Yeah she was valuable to have around, smart and a damn good fuck that’s for sure.

“C’mon, we have to go to school.” She said, grabbing her back pack.

“Ah, fuck school. Let’s play hooky for the day.” He sighed, turning around tot look at her once again.

“And do what?” She asked. “You might only care about sports, but I do like learning in a shitty, strict and useless environment.” Nea crossed her arms over her chest after she had shouldered her bag.

“We can go to the lodge. I know a really good store that sells some awesome music, movies and merch.” He looked around her room at the posters again.

“We can do that after school.” She unlocked her bedroom door and Frank moved forward, grabbing her arm to keep her from leaving the room.

“I don’t have my school bag. It’s no use going, we’ll get half of 4th period then it will be lunch and we’ll only have 3 classes left.” He tried persuading her that the day was a bust.

“Oh Frank… At least put forward some effort.” She yanked her arm away and opened the door. “Are you coming or staying?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea what I'm doing ._.


	10. Friendship Bracelet

Tuesday came and went. He still had tutoring from Claudette for Chemistry after school on the days he didn’t have basketball practice and they were boing as fuck but the way she explained things made it easy for him to grasp the material and he slowly but surely caught on. Then after lessons it was right back to Nea’s house with her. His heart fluttered whenever he saw her, the startling thought that he might be in love with her crossed his mind but love wasn’t a real thing. Right? It was all just physical attraction? Yeah that’s it, just physical attraction and he was attracted to her, nothing more. He chewed the inside of his lip knowing that there was indeed more but he didn’t want to acknowledge it. Refused to acknowledge it even.

He laid on her bed Wednesday after school watching TV with her, talking about how they made the news from the events at the bar Monday night but when the silence between them happened, all he could think about was how much she irritated him with how manipulative and controlling she was. Which was oddly the way he acted towards his Legion except Nea made him do things he wasn’t particularly keen on like going to school, staying in practice, paying attention in class-... Wait. Was she making him an upstanding citizen? No that can’t be it, they burnt down the bar together. Which Clive was continuously bitching about every time Frank went home for a change of clothes, raging about how the only good thing in this town was now gone and that they should move if they ever got the money. Nea opened her bedroom door and walked in with two bowls, handing Frank one as he looked away from the television screen at her.

“What’s this? A bowl of good pussy?” He asked jokingly. She laughed, sitting on the bed next to him.

“It’s macaroni,” she giggled.

“Mmmm, it sounds like good pussy.” He murmured with a shit eating grin as he used his spoon to make lewd sounds with the noodles. He took a bite of the macaroni and turned his gaze back to the TV, letting his mind wander back to how much she irritated him yet she had just made him food, and she showered him with kisses when they were alone, and they had so many good moments together.

“Nea, do you entice me to do normal things to keep an alibi so we don’t get suspected of the crimes we commit?” He asked, chewing thoughtfully.

“Wooowww, did you finally figure that out all by yourself?” She teased.

“You could have explained that to me.”

“Where is the fun in explaining everything to you? Figure things out yourself, not everything is straightforward.” She ate her macaroni.

“Well tell me something straight forward, Nea. Do you love me?” Frank asked, watching her closely.

She stopped eating and looked back at him, the expression on her face was neutral, not giving anything away. “Do I love you or am I in love with you?”

“Is being ‘in love’ even possible?” He asked, setting his bowl down on the nightstand next to her bed so he could flop onto his back. “I don’t even know what that means or what it feels like, it’s foreign to me.”

“What do you think love is, Frank?”

He stared up at the ceiling for a long time while she kept eating. What did he think love was? “I feel like it's a stronger feeling than just liking something… I like pussy and self harm and stealing things, arson even…” He turned his head and looked at her. “We should go out and burn something else.”

Nea smirked, trying to force away the smile she had on her face. “Remember what Mr. Watson said at the assembly today… Playing with fire is bad, and graffiti is vandalism which is a serious offense. We shouldn’t participate in those types of activities and if we see anything, report it to your local authorities.” She mocked the principal with an eyeroll. “Fuck authoritative figures. You never finished answering the question though.”

Frank sighed in irritation as she made him think again. He didn’t like thinking, he liked doing. “I answered it already, I said it’s a stronger feeling than like.”

“There are lots of stronger feelings than like.”

“Okay fine. If I had to say… I think love is maybe having a sentimental connection to something or someone, more than just like.”

She nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer. “Nice description. Look at you not being dumb.”

“Okay answer my question now. Do you love me?” He propped himself up onto his elbows.

“From the way you described it, yes. I do have a sentimental connection to you.” She answered.

“Okay but you proposed another question, are you in love with me?”

“Do you even know what that means?”

Frank went quiet again. Why did she have to ask another question on top of his questions? “Nah, I suppose I don’t,” he mumbled. “But I feel something for you.”

“It’s the boner in your pants.” She took another bite.

* * *

Thursday seemed fine for most of the day, but he couldn’t shake the feeling something was off with his friends. Joey was the same as usual, happy and chatting up a storm about the upcoming wrestling matches, Julie seemed to be absent minded, like something was bothering her and whenever Frank tried talking to her she would acknowledge him but go right back to whatever she found more interesting at the time and Susie was avoiding him completely. Frank looked up at the clock in English class, Ms. Diaz was sitting silently at her desk grading their last tests and on days like this was when the class had some free time to read or finish up extra credit projects. He glanced over at Nea who was reading in her seat by the window then over to Julie who was writing what appeared to be some notes down before he rose to his feet and silently walked over to her.

“Hey, what’s wrong with Susie?” He asked in a whisper so the teacher wouldn’t look up from her work.

“I don’t know Frank, maybe you should ask her.” Julie’s green eyes shot over to him with an angry, frustrated look.

“Okay well what’s your problem then?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at her, not understanding what was pissing his friends off.

“You are right now,” Julie said a bit louder which made Ms. Diaz look up at them.

“Mr. Morrison, I gave you this time to work on something productive, not bother the other students in my class.” She said.

“Sorry…” He said, rising to his feet and returning to his desk. Nea was watching him with a confused look on her face before returning to her book. Frank opened his notebook and started sketching a half assed drawing of The Legion tag to try and keep his mind busy with something before a light bulb went off in his head. He closed his book and stuffed it into his pack before walking over to the teacher's desk with a weird waddle. Her warm brown eyes looked up at him.

“Yes, Mr. Morrison?”

“Uh… I was wondering if I could go to the nurse’s office…” He stammered out.

“What for? Can it wait until after class?” She was skeptical about his asking.

“Erh, I don’t think so… My stomach hurts. I think I need to piss but like, out of my ass.”

The entire class erupted in a chorus of laughter and giggling, including Nea who held her hands up to her mouth to hide the fact she was laughing. The teacher sighed and rubbed her temples like he was giving her a headache.

“Well go then,” She waved him off. Frank nodded and grabbed his pack, doing his funky waddle until the door closed behind him. Once it was shut, he proceeded to walk normally down the hall until he got to Susie’s Geometry class. He sat outside the door sketching in his notebook waiting for her to exit the class until the bell rang. When it did, he scrambled to his feet and looked around to see the pink haired girl walking out of her class.

She was talking softly to one of her classmates about the recent chapter they just covered, stopping short when she saw Frank waiting for her with a smile on his face. She said goodbye to her classmate and immediately turned on heel and walked away from him down the hall.

His smile fell into an expression of confusion as he pushed passed the other students to catch up with her.

“Suze! Hey Suze, wait up!” He called.

“Go away Frank…” She brushed him off, only walking faster to her next class. He managed to grab her hand and yank her into a stop so she spun around and slapped him. He heard the students around them ‘oo’ as they witnessed the slap he received, serving to further his confusion as he reached up to feel his cheek.

“What the hell, Suze?” He breathed. She looked horrified at what she had done, shame burning red on her face. Susie shoved her hands into her pocket, turned and continued walking down the hall to get away from him, leaving Frank with more questions than he initially had before.

Nea tapped his shoulder, her blue eyes looked just as confused as he felt when he turned and looked at her.

“What happened?” She asked softly.

“I don’t know, I was waiting for her after class and she just ran away like I have the plague or something…” He mumbled.

“I’ll go talk to her. If you’re gonna follow and eavesdrop, stay out of sight.” She said and walked after Susie. Frank lingered in the hall for a little bit before following in the direction both girls had gone. The bell rang once again, signalling the beginning of the new period, students filed into their respective classes leaving him alone in the hall. Where the fuck did they go? He stopped and looked around, listening for anything. No one was around. Bleachers!

Frank walked out of the school building, towards the hockey rink where he saw Nea and Susie sitting in the bleachers, their backs to him. He dropped his bag on the ground and snuck up closer to listen to what they were saying. Susie was sniffling and Nea was holding her hands.

“- with you, and now he doesn’t remember the promise he made to me. I don’t know why I got my hopes up, I know he doesn’t like me like that…”

Fuck.

“But he knows you like him?” Nea asked her. She nodded.

“Yeah I told him before we became friends, he said he would think about it… I guess he hasn’t. He likes you though, he has been spending a lot of his time with you.” There was a moment of silence where neither of them said anything.

“Frank stays over at my place often because he can eat when he is there,” Nea said. Well it was partially the truth. “We are really good friends, just like you and him are really good friends. I have never seen people as close as you and Joey and Julie and Frank until I came here.”

“He probably doesn’t want to be my friend anymore after I slapped him… I don’t even know why I did, I just… I didn’t want him grabbing me. It felt good when I did it though…”

“You’re frustrated with him for not keeping his promise, it’s understandable. He’ll forgive you. Do you want to talk to him about it? Maybe clear the air.”

“He’s probably mad at me.” Susie groaned. “When he gets mad he snaps. It’s like the flip of a switch sometimes, anything can set him off.”

Is that really how she saw him? He felt like Susie wasn’t describing him since he hadn’t even been angry in awhile. Frank made a mental note to start treating his friends with more empathy since he didn’t want to lose them.

“I don’t think he’ll be mad at you, I think he just wants to know why you have been avoiding him. Men are stupid and can’t figure things out for themselves.” Nea chuckled, which made Susie giggle.

“Yeah they are…” She mumbled.

“Let’s go talk to him, I’m sure he’ll understand if you just explain.” Nea rose to her feet with a smile.

Susie stood when Nea did, grabbing her bag and walking off the bleachers together. Frank stood where he was, waiting for them to notice him and when they did, Susie stopped walking with shock written on her face before she looked down at her shoes with a certain quickness.

“Hey Suze,” He said gently, walking over to them. He shoved his hands in his pockets. “You okay?”

She gave a nod. He looked at Nea then back to Susie. “Hey listen… I’m sorry. It’s my fault, I forgot the promise.”

“How much of that did you hear?” She asked.

“Not much. Just the part where men are stupid.” He shrugged.

Susie cracked a smile then took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for slapping you.”

“Nah, I deserved it. 100%.” Frank nodded. “The day is almost over… Do you guys want to go up to the lodge? Maaayyybeee smoke a little weed?” He looked at Nea, silently asking if she could supply them.

“Sounds like fun to me, Susie?” Nea asked.

“Sure but how would we get up there? It’s a really long walk.” Susie asked.

“I can take Clive’s truck and we can all drive up there. We just have to walk to my place.” Frank shrugged. “Is that okay?” Susie nodded. “Wait… Fuck I forgot, I have Chem study with Claudette…”

“You did say in Ms. Diaz’s class that you had to piss out of your ass so maybe you went home for the day?” Nea offered up a cover story for him.

“Since when do you want to stay in school, Frank?” Susie asked, looking at him confused.

“I don’t, I just don’t want to bomb this upcoming test with our first basketball game next week.” He shrugged, walking over to where he had set his bag down to pick it up so they all could walk to his house.

Frank told the girls to wait outside so he could sneak in. If Clive saw him bringing home two girls he would never hear the end of it. He went in through the back door, the sound of that old box Television blaring The Simpsons. His foster father was asleep in that cigarette hole riddled recliner, a half drunk bottle of tequila in his lap, snoring like a freight train. Too easy.

Frank slowly grabbed the keys off the counter and went out to the garage, starting the engine and backing out next to the girls.

“Get in!” He said. They threw their bags in the bed of the truck as Nea opened the door for Susie to climb in first, sitting in the middle as she climbed into the passenger seat, slamming the door shut. Frank took his foot off the brake and eased onto the gas as he released the clutch, shifting into gear and driving down the road.

Frank fussed with the radio as best as he could while driving, trying to find a good station, but everything sounded like static except the country station so he just shut it off, concentrating on his driving which was a bit more reckless than the way Joey drives but it got them up to the lodge faster.

“You don’t think it’s going to rain, do you?” Susie asked either of them as they all climbed out once they had arrived.

Nea looked up towards the sky. “Nah, those clouds are too far apart for it to rain.” She walked into the lodge with her backpack. Frank kept the truck unlocked as he walked inside, shoving a few of the left over logs into the fireplace but not lighting it until later if they needed it. It wasn’t that cold out yet.

“Aaahhh home sweet home!” He said as he sat down in his chair.

“You think of this place as home?” Susie tilted her head to the side.

“Yeah, I do. Mostly because no ones going to come looking for me here if I just leave normal society behind.” He shrugged, reaching for a beer.

Nea was packing a bowl on the couch, her brows pulled down while she concentrated.

Frank opened a beer but didn’t drink it yet. He chewed the inside of his lip. “Hey Suze?”

“Yes Frank?”

“I was wondering… Does your mom’s boyfriends grab you?” He looked at her to see her look away from him, the hood hiding her face from view.

“Sometimes…” She admitted.

“I’m sorry for grabbing you then.” He said.

“Yeah, it’s okay.”

“Who’s cashing?” Nea asked the two of them.

“I will,” Susie took the pipe and lighter from her hand, taking the first hit of the night.

“I also brought some other things too…” Nea reached into a smaller pocket of her backpack, pulling out a small baggie of what looked like candies. Frank took a drink of his booze and eyed the baggie with suspicion.

“What is that?” He asked.

“Mmm where I’m from we call it Molly.” She said.

“What does it do?”

“It makes you feel euphoric.” Nea said, pulling one of the candies out and placing it on her tongue.

“So it’s like a happy pill?” Susie asked and Nea nodded. She held her hand out for one and Nea gave it to her.

“Is that all it does?” Frank asked, reaching out to take one as well.

“Mmm, it can make things look funny, but other than that I don’t think so.” She handed Frank one. “I have never felt anything bad from taking it.”

The candy dissolved in his mouth and he reached towards Susie for the pot. She handed it to him and sat down.

“How do we know when it starts working?” She asked.

“Oh you’ll know.” Nea smiled. Frank took a hit, resisting the urge to cough which was a bit better this time now that he knew what to expect. “Susie, can I braid your hair?”

“Sure I guess.” Susie pulled her hood down and walked over to sit on the couch next to her as she started playing with her pastel pink locks. “Julie and I were talking about dying it blue soon.”

“Oh, a pretty light blue? That would look nice on you.” Nea commented.

Frank watched the two girls for a moment before leaning his head back against his chair. “The winter formal is coming up soon,” He mentioned to them.

“Oh yeah, Joey asked me to go with him.” Susie said.

“Really? Did you accept?”

“Of course I did. Jules doesn’t know if she wants to go yet though, it’s in December which is two months away. But she is throwing that Halloween party after she makes the hockey team.”

“Julie is throwing a party?” Nea asked, suddenly interested.

“Yeah, we all have been planning it since the summer…” Susie let her eyes close when she felt Nea’s fingers brush against her neck.

“Did that feel nice?” She asked her in a whisper, running her fingers along her jaw. Susie nodded and turned her head to look at Nea, her eyes drooping a little.

“Do you wanna kiss right now…?”

“Do you want to kiss me?”

“Yeah I kinda do… I have never kissed a girl before.” Susie told her.

“There is a first time for everything.” Nea pressed their lips together.

“Why does the ceiling look like swiss cheese?” Frank asked, his heart starting to pump like he was excited about it. He laughed, trying to figure out what exactly he was looking at, lifting his head to look at the girls to ask them if they saw it too, but what he witnessed was far better than swiss cheese.

The two of them were making out on the couch. He felt the blood in his body start to rush south. Susie pulled away smiling at her.

“Did you like it?” Nea asked. Susie bit her lower lip, letting it slide between her teeth as she nodded, turning around on the couch to face her, pushing Nea onto her back as she climbed over her to continue their kiss.

“You guys are fucking freaks…” Frank mumbled. He nearly looked away but Nea’s voice rang in his head; ‘You can watch…’

Nea’s hand moved up Susie’s thigh and under her skirt and back down again but she pulled Susie’s leggings down over her ass as she did. Frank felt his hand going to the front of his pants so he could grab himself as he watched, letting out a soft moan as he did. Susie pulled away from the kiss and looked over at Frank, startled as she remembered that he was there.

“It’s okay,” Nea said to her. “Do you want Frank to join us?”

“I-I don’t know…” Susie stammered. “I kind of do… But isn’t this weird?”

“What’s weird?”

“I don’t know, I just feel really good right now.” Susie giggled. “Yeah I guess he can join us…”

She beckoned Frank to join them on the couch. He slowly licked his lips and got up from his chair, reaching out to feel up Susie’s thigh when he came over as Nea pulled the hoodie off of her, then pushed the straps to her tank top over her shoulders, leaving only the pink haired girl’s bra on her upper half. Frank’s fingers played with the elastic of Susie’s panties, and he leaned forward until his mouth was right next to her ear.

“Can I?” He asked. She moaned when Nea grabbed her breasts but nodded her answer to Frank before the two girls started making out again. His hand moved without him thinking about it, pushing her panties to her knees and then pulling her skirt up before inserting his middle finger inside of her. Her moan was muffled against Nea’s own mouth, but her hips pushed back against his hand. “Holy fuck Suze, you’re really wet…” He mumbled.

Frank pulled his finger out of her and she whimpered from the loss of pleasure as he started undoing his pants, stroking his shaft a few times before lining up with her entrance, moving his hips forwards as he gripped hers to keep her still, trying not to moan from how tight she was.

Susie pulled out of the kiss to gasp when Frank entered her, resting her chest against Nea’s. He pulled back slowly then pushed forward into her again, starting a steady and gentle pace to get her used to him. She let out a moan for each thrust as Nea unclasped her bra with one hand, tossing the garment onto the floor and playing with her breasts as Frank fucked her from behind.

“D-Don’t stop…” Susie stammered out in between panting and moaning.

“I’m not gonna…” Frank said to her. She nodded and moved her head until her lips smashed against Nea’s, their tongues getting well acquainted with one another and their teeth were scraping together. He kept thrusting into her, reveling in the feeling of her wetness and how easy it allowed him to slide in and out of her tight pussy. “Oh my fucking god, I’m gonna cum soon…” He moaned.

Frank let his hands wander up her sides before they found her breasts. Nea’s hands moved out of the way for him.

“You’re greedy…” The Swede mumbled to him in that lecherous tone she had as one of her hands went between Susie’s legs to play with her clit. He smirked, running his tongue up Susie’s neck before sucking on it.

“Harder, Frank… Fuck me harder!” Susie begged him and he obliged, Pulling away from her neck so he could grip her sides as he started picking up the pace with his thrusts. She cried out, eyes watering from the force he used to pound into her. He moaned when his dick started throbbing in her, feeling himself start to cum when he pulled out, cupping his hand around his tip so he wouldn’t get it on either of the girls.

Susie moaned and relaxed as she panted to catch her breath, feeling like she had just ran a mile in gym class.

“Did you like it?” Nea asked her.

“Uh-huh…” Susie responded.

Frank cursed as he looked around for something to wipe his cum covered hand off on, sufficing with one of the old bar rags that was laying on the counter top.

“Holy shit,” he mumbled, throwing the rag into an abandoned corner. Nea sat up and moved out from underneath Susie who was pulling her panties and leggings back up, covering her breasts with one arm as she gathered her clothes and put them back on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter was a hecking bitch to get out of my head xD Also, I have had this idea bouncing around that maybe I should make a sequel to this? Would that even be interesting? Let me know what you guys think, I love hearing your feed back!


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